Curiosity killed the cat
by AnimesChibi
Summary: Things were going well for the unlucky black cat. The love of his life paid him a visit, his photo shoots weren't so long, he could even call himself lucky for once. But of course all of that changes when curiosity peeks his interest. You know how the saying goes...
1. Cat Catches Cold

White, fluffy snow fell over the city Paris as it always did during its Winter months. To some, this brought great fun in the snow that covered everything like a snug blanket, and to others it brought being stuck at home with a high fever, prohibiting any fun from happening. For Marinette, she was greater with the opportunity to have fun with her family. But of course she just had to get through school and avoid any akuma from attacking anyone.

"It's only a few more days until Winter Break, Tilki!" Marinette sighed happily as she spun around her room with arms extended.

Her kwami friend giggled and nodded, excited herself. "Just think of all of the fun we can have in the snow once school is out!"

Marinette got her things together in her bag before she hurried downstairs to greet her parents. The bakery was up and running as people came in for the special on hot products during the winter season. Marinette slid over to Sabine and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek so she wouldn't pull her away from work longer than she had to. "I'm off to school, mom! I'll be back later."

Sabine gave a warm smile in response and handed her a small box of cookies. "Have a good day, Mari. Share these with your friends." she said.

Marinette accepted the treats and pushed through the front door, heading out towards school. Marinette pulled her scarf closer to her in effort to shield herself from te chill wind that blew against her as she trudged through the snow that covered the streets.

As Marinette walked onto school grounds, she noticed the absence of the limo that arrives at its scheduled time everyday. Of course that would be the first thing she notices instead of the snowball flying at her head. Marinette flinched, nearly dropping her cookies as she quickly looked around for the perpetrator. Alya stood off to the side, waving and smiling innocently as she tried holding back her laughter. "Hey girl. Don't you think it's a little too early for you to be spacing out on me?" She asked as she came over to her surprised friend.

Marinette quickly collected herself and waved back "Oh hi, Alya." She laughed with a hint of nervousness. "I was just, uh-"

"Noticing that your prince was missing?" Alya finished for her. She pulled an arm around Marinette and snuck a cookie out from the box she carried. "I heard from Nino that Adrien is out sick today with a cold."

Off in the distance Chloe perked up, her selective hearing kicking in at the mention of the famous blonde boy. She dashed over with a dramatic look on her face. "My darling Adrikins is out sick today?!" She asked then turned to her servant of a friend with a bossy attitude. "Sabrina! Find me something to give Adrien as a get-well present!" She called and with that Sabrina nodded and immediately started searching for things on her phone.

Alya rolled her eyes and led Marinette into the school building to get away from the preppy duo. "Say, Marinette," Alya smiled as a thought came to her head "You should bring Adrien some of these cookies. I think he'd really enjoy them." She winked and nudged her now blushing friend.

"W-what? You- I me-mean me?" Marinette babbled as she became a stuttering fool. "I could never uh… go to his- do you think he would like them?" She somehow mustered out through all of her nonsense.

Alya laughed and shook her head at her. "I bet he would love some of Marinette's homemade cookies." Alya proceeded to lead Marinette into class, taking their usual seats on the second row. Instead of being distracted by Adrien, Marinette found herself daydreaming, planning how she was going to deliver cookies to Adrien. There was no way that her skittish Marinette self could do the task, but Ladybug would have no problem.


	2. Cat Catches Cookies

Marinette had been baking cookies for hours. Checking recipes. Trying new things. Throwing everything out once it was all over. Panicked, Marinette figured there would be no batch of cookies that would turn out perfect enough for Adrien. At the end of the day Marinette had to settle for the best batch she had made since it was getting that time again for her to meet up with Chat Noir for their nightly patrols. Smiling at the thought of delivering cookies personally to Adrien, Marinette carefully placed the cookies in a bag and tied a red bow around to seal it. She would have to wait until after she was done patrolling to give them to Adrien. Heading back to her room, Marinette transported the bag onto her desk for her to retrieve later on.

After making sure her parents were occupied, Marinette was able to safely transform. "Tikki! Spots on!" She called to her kwami friend and gave a little spin as she was transformed into the beloved hero, Ladybug. She jumped out onto her balcony and hurled her yoyo out to swing off into the distance.

This was one of her favorite parts about being Ladybug. She could soar around like a free spirit as she watched over Paris. The city was still

This night as the majority of citizens had either gone home or were heading there. It was becoming too dark for little kids to stay outside and play in the snow. They were reluctantly trailing inside behind their parents, replacing their snowy fun with cups of hot chocolate and a spot by the fireplace in order to warm up their petite bodies. Soon enough they would be tucked snugly into bed and read a bedtime story before drifting off to sleep under the security of Ladybug and her flirtatious partner, Chat Noir. Being part of a heroic duo was a full-time job even through the hardships of cool, Winter nights.

Ladybug dropped herself down in front of the Eiffel Tower and replaced her yoyo back where it belong at her side. Chat Noir stepped down into the fresh snow soon after Ladybug touched down. "Purrfect timing, M'Lady~" He smiled charmingly to her.

"I'll give you credit for the accurate timing, kitty." Ladybug replied.

Chat touched an end of the green scarf around his neck and pulled it off in a motion that made it fall around Ladybug's neck loosely."A gift for my lady so she doesn't catch a cold." He explained with a wink. He already caught a cold so no scarf would help him now as he thought. And of course he wouldn't let any signs show that he was actually sick. If he did as much as let out a sneeze she would probably send him home. That was something that he could never let happen. He promised himself that no matter what, he would always be around to protect Ladybug from whatever may happen.

Ladybug studied the genuine look of care on Chat's face for a moment before smiling softly and fixing the scarf more snugly around her neck. "Why thank you Chat. Won't you be prone to getting sick now?" She asked him, allowing slight concern to sound in her voice.

Chat cocked his head slightly to the side, giving her a playful look to reassure her. "Don't you worry about your faithful cat. I'll be just fine." He said and bounced slightly as he took his first step away from the meeting place. "Shall we go patrol?" He asked with an extended hand offered to her.

Ladybug poked his hand away with a finger before following his lead down the streets. "You should keep your hands free to deal with trouble. Not hold my hands." She told him, keeping her hands to herself.

Chat let out a dejected sigh. "I could always do both, M'Lady." He moved his arm around Ladybug's waist before taking his staff out and extending it so they would be lifted up to the rooftops. Ladybug freed herself from his arm once she felt her feet touch the solid surface of the building they were on. Able to see much better from up there, the duo scanned the area for any sign of trouble. The night was quiet until the sound of an alarm flooded through the air. The two perked up and headed to the source of the sound, finding a figure with a mask hiding their face and taking the appearance that wasn't your typical citizen. "Looks like Hawkmoth has found another victim and taken a new low of robbing banks." Chat muttered from the edge of the roof.

"He doesn't seem to be picky, let's end this before people start to wake up." Ladybug said before swinging down into action with Chat moving right behind. The akumatized villain controlled the ATMs at will, tangling up the heroes in constricting wires. It wasn't long before Ladybug found the akumatized item. And with the help of Chat she was able to snatch the akumatized item and snap it in half. Ladybug then tossed up her lucky charm and restored peace once again in the city. Chat Noir and Ladybug landed a fist bump just before Ladybug heard her earrings beep in warning. "Nice job tonight, Chat Noir." Ladybug commented as she stepped back, ready to hurry home before she transformed back. Chat gave a small smile in response and waved to her "Don't get clawst on the way home~" he said and got a shake of the head in response from her.

"That definitely wasn't your best work. Good night, silly kitty." Ladybug called and swung away by her yoyo to get home.

"Yeah... I'm definitely pawlling behind on my puns." Chat rubbed his head, feeling his fever get high again. Without anymore hesitation he took his staff and jolted himself in the air and towards his own home. He lunged into the window and collapsed down on his bed, no longer wanting to move anymore that night. Plagg came flying over Adrien's head once the transformation wore off and gave his boy a rare, concerned look. "You look terrible. You should have stayed home tonight."

Adrien moved up to his pillow to lay his face down in it. "And leave my lady all alone tonight? I don't think so. I'll be fine as long as I can get some sleep..." he sighed long and drawn out. He had definitely been in no shape to go out on patrol but he touched it out for the sake of protecting Ladybug. After all, there was an akuma attack. Plagg shook his head and left him with that, going off on his own to seek out some Camembert to satisfy his hunger.

Marinette snuck back into her room and offered a cookie to replenish Tikki's energy. "I'm sorry to make you transform me twice, Tikki." Marinette apologized to the tiny kwami. Tikki happily ate the cookie and responded with a genuine "Don't worry, Marinette. You're doing a good deed so I'm happy to oblige." Of course Tikki was also up to the task if it meant helping her human get closer to Adrien without having her embarrass herself. Tikki finished the cookie off with one last bite and flew up to Marinette's eye level. "Are you ready to see your boyfriend~?"

"Yes- wait, what?!" Marinette asked in a flustered voice, making Tikki giggle before she transformed Marinette once again. The heroine picked up the bag of cookies and fixed the scarf she had be gifted by Chat Noir around her neck. Once again she swooped out of her room and headed to the Agreste Mansion. Luckily this time the night was completely silent with absolutely no signs of another akuma attack. She was safe. Another benefit was that Ladybug knew just where Adrien's room was so she wouldn't accidentally wake someone else up. Ladybug wound her yoyo around a sturdy part of the roof and hung down to get to Adrien's window. Despite the Ladybug confidence and assurance that this was in fact Adrien's room, she still felt a wave of timidness wash over her.

The room was filled with the darkness of night when the blonde heard a quiet tap on his window. At first he thought he was just imagining it until he heard it again. Slowly pushing himself up in bed, Adrien looked around carefully with a blurred vision. He tensed up slightly when he saw a figure hanging in front of his windows. There would be no way he could transform into Chat Noir to protect himself. One reason being that the figure would see him and two, he just didn't have the energy for it. It was when he took a second look that he realized just who it was. It was most definitely the real Ladybug since she wore the scarf he had given her earlier that night. Stumbling over to the windows now, Adrien pushed open the window to welcome the dangling heroine. "L-l-l-ladybug..." he stuttered out in a feverish way.

Ladybug offered him a soft smile and carefully moved herself inside, disallowing the bitter winter weather to directly get to her so easily. She held the bag of cookies out to him. "I thought these cookies might make your sickness a little easier to deal with."

'My lady really does care about me..' Was all the blonde could think at that moment before wondering how she knew about his condition. He hadn't skipped out on any patrols so of course Ladybug had picked up on the fact Chat Noir wasn't in his best shape, but how did she know that Adrien was sick? Marinette seems like she was friends with Ladybug, so maybe that was it? That's the answer that he decided on, anyways. He began shivering slightly from the sudden cold breeze that rushed through the window as he accepted the bag of cookies with a grateful look as well as a small blush overshadowing his feverish face.

"Your friend Marinette told me you were sick so I thought I'd stop by and make you feel better". Adrien stood there with the bag of cookies, his fever making the blush deepen on his face. He was too shocked to say anything right away but eventually mustered out a small "Thank you.. I-I really appreciate it." Ladybug seemed please at the fact that he appreciated her gesture. She was also happy that she was able to see Adrien without being a flustered wreck. "You're welcome. I hope you feel better soon." Ladybug said and looked out at the city to see that the last bit of lights in homes were going off in many buildings, signaling that more people were going to sleep like the great majority of the population.

She looked back to Adrien to try and get his image to burn into her memory. This was one of the rare times that she could be in his presence without anything bad happening. No one to interrupt. Nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything, Adrien was the flustered one in this situation and as for the reason... Well, Ladybug hadn't a clue. "You should really get some rest. I'm sorry if I woke you up." she said

Adrien shook his head quickly "N-no! There's no problem. I'm actually happy that you came and brought me these cookies. I'm sure they'll really help me."

Ladybug smiled at that and responded with a quiet "Good night,

Adrien." before sending herself back to the rooftops, leaving Adrien looking after her with a genuine expression of happiness on his face. "Good night... My lady.." Adrien said quietly and slowly closed the window, leaving his room dark and still once again. He crawled to his bed and sat down, deciding to remove a cookie from the tied up bag and try it out. He closed his eyes as it melted in his mouth. He had to keep himself from emptying the bag out in one night so he tied the bow back around it and laid down once more. "My lady really is something special..." he sighed happily and pulled the blanket closer against him as he wished silently to himself that Ladybug would have stayed with him that night. Instead, he was left with the cold feeling of his lonely house.

 **I hope you stuck around long enough to be able to read this second chapter of my first Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction. I apologize for the drastic shortness of the akumatized villain, but hopefully you enjoyed the rest of it~**


	3. Cat Catches Conclusions

Warm sunlight streamed into Adrien's room as the sun slowly rose over the horizon of Paris. Adrien woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating against his desk, signaling a new text message. It must have been Nino since it was definitely no time for any schedule notifications. He had been sick, anyways. Well, let's make that recovering. Thankfully he felt much better than he did the day before.

Adrien slowly slid out of bed to retrieve his phone from the desk and sat down on the couch before checking it. While rubbing his eyes trying to adjust his vision he entered his memorized passcode and watched the message pop up.

 _I hope you're feeling better today, dude. It's been lonely with you playing hooky._ –Nino

Adrien couldn't help but to chuckle at that. If only he could get away with playing hooky so that he wouldn't have to attend any scheduled events.

 _I only wish I could play hooky for a while, but I do actually feel better today. Enough to come back to school actually._ –Adrien

While waiting for a response back the tired blonde stood up and went to have another one of the cookies his lady had brought to him last night. Despite it having been hours since they were delivered, the cookie still felt warm and soft, melting in his mouth and causing him to drool a little bit. "What I would give to be able to make something as good as this..." he thought to himself and looked over when he heard his phone buzz again.

 _Whatever you want to call it. I'll be waiting for you at school._ –Nino

Marinette woke up with a small groan when her own phone rang. She slid a hand out from underneath her blanket to reach towards her phone to pick it up and pull it back under the blanket so she could hear who it was. "Hello?" she asked in a tired voice. She had been drained from the patrol and visiting Adrien afterwards. That also put a strain on Tikki, but Marinette made up for that with some fresh cookies.

"Good morning, girl!" Alya called happily from the other end "If your morning isn't swell then it's about to be."

Swell wasn't the word Marinette would have used but her morning wasn't bad. She was simply just tired. "I'm a little tired, but what's up, Alya?" she asked, slowly poking her head out into the open with the phone.

"Your Prince Charming will be at school today~ Information courtesy of Nino." Alya informed her love-troubled friend. She had only figured out this knowledge a minute before calling, having been texting Nino.

Marinette immediately perked up at that "What, really?!" she exclaimed then thought aloud to herself, somehow forgetting that she was on the phone with Alya. "He didn't seem well at all yesterday..."

Her friend's voice was quiet, but it was loud enough to where Alya could hear her. "Yesterday? He wasn't at school then." She reminded, her tone hinting at suspicion.

Marinette blinked and rubbed her head as she quickly covered that last part up. "I-I must have been remembering that dream I had last night! Yeah, I had a dream about school and Adrien was there, and he was sick, and-"

Alya cut her off on her rambling with a laugh "You sure are crazy in love sometimes, Marinette! Prince Charming even appears in your dreams it seems." She shook her head at her through the phone. "I'll meet up with you at school, alright? I still need to get ready."

Marinette pulled the phone away from her face long enough to sigh in relief for getting the suspicions off of her. "Alright, Alya. See ya." She said then hung up, putting her phone down on the bed beside her. She looked up at Tikki who had been listening in to the conversation.

"Since he will be at school you should give him something personally to help him feel even better." Tikki smiled and floated to Marinette.

"P-personally? Like what? You know I'm a complete mess when I'm me around him." Marinette shook her head.

Tikki tsked at her at touched her nose "You can do it, Marinette. It will be one step closer to him."

Marinette made a thinking face as she rubbed her chin "Maybe I could make hot chocolate for the four of us? Since it's so cold outside it would both warm us up and make us more awake."

Tikki nodded in approval, "That sounds wonderful!"

Marinette smiled and hopped up "I should start on those now so I can get ready in time." She said, knowing she had a history of being tardy. She was determined that wasn't going to happen today. She headed down stairs and greeted her parents who were setting up the bakery before she went into the kitchen, getting four hot chocolates made. She used candy canes to stir each, giving off a slightly minty taste. Topping them off with whipped cream and little marshmallows, Marinette put them together in a carrier and left them there for until she was done getting herself ready.

With Tikki hidden away in her bag, Marinette headed out the door with the drinks in hand, making her way towards school. Even after all of that time preparing and getting ready, Marinette had forgotten to wrap her neck up in a scarf so now she was shivering slightly at the cool wind. She had thought about going back to get the scarf Chat had given her but she would have been late if she headed back now. Oh well, she thought. She would be in the warmth of the school building soon enough.

Alya was waiting outside for her best friend as Marinette came trailing up to the steps. "Hey, girl! What do you have there?" Alya asked with a finger pointed at the collection of lidded styrofoam cups she was carrying. Marinette smiled in response and offered one out to her "I made hot chocolates for you, me, Adrien, and Nino." She explained, getting a slight nudge in response. "You know the best way to a man's heart." Alya winked and happily accepted a hot chocolate, watching Marinette become flustered slightly. "I'm just teasing, but I'm sure the boys both will enjoy it." Alya assured and waved down Nino. "Hey Nino! Come over here, would ya?"

"What's up?" Nino asked as he walked over to the duo.

"Marinette made us some hot chocolate." Alya said and handed him one of the unclaimed cups.

"Oh cool! Thanks Marinette!" Nino said as he took the cup and sipped it. He looked down at the cup and to Marinette with an impressed look. "That's the best hot chocolate I've had."

"Thanks." Marinette smiled "I mixed it with a candy cane to give it a minty taste." She explained.

Nino have her a thumbs up and continued to drink the warm refreshment as he watched the familiar limo pull up to the school. Marinette tensed up slightly with anxiety flowing through her at the sight of the car. The gorilla of a driver came out and opened the door for Adrien. The gorgeous model wore the blue scarf that Marinette had made, and himself having thought was gifted to him by his father, snugly around his neck with the addition of a white coat to keep himself extra warm. He had only been out of the car for a few seconds before Chloe came running up like a magnet to wrap her arms around him.

"Adrihoney! I missed you so much!" The ditsy blonde haired girl exclaimed dramatically, squeezing the air out of Adrien. "I thought I was going to have to come nurse you back to health myself!"

Adrien reacted with his usual uncomfortable way and Marinette with her displeased way as Chloe showed no sign of prying herself off of him. _I'm so glad that my lady got to visit me instead..._ Adrien thought silently to himself as he wriggled away from Chloe.

Nino came to the rescue before Adrien had a chance to respond back. "Hey, dude! Don't leave us hanging any longer, we've been waiting for you." Nino put his free arm behind Adrien's back and towards his group of friends.

If Marinette wasn't already feeling giddy at the sight of Adrien then his greeting definitely made her fidget.

"Morning, Marinette." Adrien smiled to her. Marinette stood there in a daze, seeing the sun on his face with the way he smiled at her. Alya had to snap her friend back into reality with a slight nudge in the side.

"H-hi-hello! I, uh, mean, g-good morrow! Wait, morning! Good morning, Adrien!" Marinette laughed nervously. Hey, at least she didn't call him Prince Charming. She looked down at the last two cups in the carrier "I uh, hot chocolate- like- you.. I mean, w-would you like some hot chocolate?" She stuttered out while mentally facepalming. _Get it together, Marinette!_

Adrien made a slight confused expression that quickly vanished. "Hot chocolate? Sure, I'd love some." He nodded with a smile, ignoring Chloe and Sabrina's laughter from behind at Marinette's stuttering.

Marinette pulled one of the cups out and handed it to him, forcing a squeal to stay inside of her as his warm hand brushed up against hers. She wondered how he was so warm when their was snow around them. Of course then she got lost in thought enough to almost miss hearing his compliment on the drink.

"This is really good! It's chocolatey and minty. A good combination." Adrien smiled brightly, highly enjoying the warm drink and how it warmed the back of his throat. It just might have been as good as those cookies from last night. He almost let himself not hear Chloe's snarky remarks.

"How could you drink that stuff?" Chloe frowned, referring to the hot chocolate. "If you wanted some real hot chocolate I could have brought you some. It would have been way better than that stuff."

"Go away, Chloe. Marinette has a talent for this stuff. I'm happy to have it." Adrien said in the timid dark haired girl's defense.

Chloe gasped slightly then quickly folded her arms over her chest and pouted. "Humph! Come on, Sabrina. It's cold out here." She said and stomped into the school with little Sabrina copying her moves.

"Someone still is bitter these days..." Alya muttered then added "Good thing it's the last day of school." with a happier attitude. "Let's head to class." She said and led the rest in.

Adrien moved beside Marinette as they walked through the doors. "Really though, thanks for this. This will definitely help us get through these last final tests before break." He said, being oblivious of the growing blush on her face. "N-no problem.." she mustered out, smoother this time. She was glad that he enjoyed the drink. She sat down in her usual seat and sipped on her own, closing her eyes for a moment. She really did have a talent with this stuff.

Adrien kept the warm cup clasped in his hands as he fell into thought, reviewing the recent events. He somehow had his luck turning around, despite being sick and all. His lady accepted his scarf gift as well as treat him to some cookies. But of course, Ladybug most likely wouldn't have known that he was sick if Marinette hadn't said anything to her. He wondered what she might have said to get Ladybug to bring him those cookies. Maybe Marinette made them herself and asked for Ladybug to deliver them? Or maybe Ladybug was a fan of his and made the cookies herself? He was famous after all. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Ladybug to know who he was. And besides, the cookies were delicious either way, whoever made them. _But Marinette... Just what went through her mind during that time and even this one?_ Adrien thought to himself. _It was no doubt that she cares about me. Enough to tell Ladybug that I was sick and somehow get her to visit me. And also she brought me a hot chocolate. Of course she gave one to Ayla and Nino as well, but she thought of me too, obviously._ Adrien sighed silently to himself and allowed himself a few second break on his test that laid halfway done in front of him. He took another sip of the hot chocolate and made his way through the rest of the questions.

Hours passed and school finally let out. Most students didn't waste a second with running out of the school doors, cheering about how they survived the day and talking amongst one another about their winter break plans. Alya and Nino found themselves heading out of the room, leaving Adrien alone momentarily with the busy Marinette who was still packing up. Adrien gradually made his way towards her, being sure to not startle her like usual. He was interested in seeing if he could get her to talk more so than usual. This wasn't any confrontation or anything. No, he just wanted to peek into that shy little mind of hers. He moved to the side of her desk before he spoke in a gentle voice. "Hey Marinette."

Despite how tender his voice was, Marinette still jumped slightly. It was as if she had been zoned out. She turned to look at him then around the room, realizing it was just them two. This realization made her panic internally and press a hand against her purse, needing Tikki's good luck to not come out as a complete fool again. "H-hi.." She responded sheepishly. _Good, Marinette. That was good._ She pat herself on the back mentally.

"Uhm, last night.. I got a visit from Ladybug," he started, looking away in an embarrassed manner at the thought of Ladybug going out of her way to see him. "She said that you had told her I was sick."

Marinette didn't seem to calm down, now thinking that he didn't appreciate someone just randomly barging on into his room. Well, it wasn't barging in nor was it random, but still he might not have liked that. Paranoid now, she tried to think of an explanation. "A-ah.. Y-yeah.. I did... I'm sorry for telling her th-"

"Oh, no. Don't be sorry. I actually really appreciated it." Adrien clarified with a smile.

Marinette stopped her flow of words and blinked "Y-you did..?"

Adrien nodded to her and leaned against the side of the desk top slightly. "Well yeah. I had been under the impression that no one would come to visit me. And having such a well respected hero was icing on the cake. Or really, the chocolate chips on the cookie. By the way, were you the one to make those?"

Marinette rubbed the back of her head shyly and nodded while looking down and to the side. "I did.." She said slowly, trying not to stutter again. "Did you like... them..?" she asked, daring to look back up at him to see a pleased expression.

"I really did. They were so good, I really don't know how you do it. Of course you work in a bakery, but still, I'm impressed." Adrien complimented

"Th-thank you." Marinette smiled brightly at the compliment. He had thanked her before for the cookies but that was Ladybug. This was him being impressed by Marinette.

"Oh and uh, if you weren't going to be busy during the break maybe you'd want to visit me sometime?" Adrien offered in attempt to have an opportunity to figure her out further.

Marinette tensed up slightly and mentally started to freak out. _Adrien Agreste is asking ME to come to HIS house?! Adrien Agreste. As in THE Adrien Agreste. Right here. Right now. Okay, Marinette. Just act cool._ She told herself mentally but yet she had a goofy look on her face, she couldn't hold it in. "That would be sick! I mean, in a good way. Not that it would physically be sick in the way that you are sick right now, that wouldn't make any sense-" she stopped herself from rambling on again by just spitting out a quick "That would be great."

Adrien laughed, placing a hand to his head then smiled to her once again. "Cool. I'll text you when I'm free, alright? For now I think my ride is waiting on me." He said, collected now. He adjusted the strap of his bag against his shoulder and waved to her "See ya, Marinette." And with that, he left her in the room to climb into his awaiting car.

Marinette could literally pass out on the spot after that. She sat down in her seat to catch her breath and sighed in relief.

Tikki peeked out of the clutch with bright eyes "Good job, Marinette! You landed a date with Adrien!" she cheered teasingly.

As if on cue, Marinette's face flushed bright red "I-it's not a date!" she defended

Tikki giggled in response "I know, I'm only teasing. But you really kept yourself together there."

"Surprisingly. Now I just have to keep from freaking out whenever he texts me." Marinette let out another sigh and stood up again to head out of the building, eager to tell Alya all about the conversation.

Hours passed and Adrien was sitting comfortably on the couch in his room while munching on the cookies Marinette had baked in thought. Since he was just getting over his sickness the photoshoot was shorter than usual. His father actually wanted him to get some rest. Now you might think that was caring of him and he was being a good father with that, but in actuality he just couldn't have his son get even a chance to look bad in front of the camera thanks to him not feeling well. Didn't matter to him. He was just happy to not have to work so much right when school let out. This free time gave him a chance to think.

Two girls floated around in his mind; Marinette and Ladybug. Both of which had shown kindness to his civilian persona lately. He first focused on Marinette. She had thought of him and even went to go mention him to Paris' beloved heroine. Not to mention bother with make him some hot chocolate, one reason might have been to help soothe his cold some more. Regardless of what it was, she had done that for him. What exactly did he do for her that would make her be that way was a question stuck in the back of his head. Sure he had given her an umbrella that first day they met, but other than that? Not much besides giving her compliments on things such as her gaming and designing skill, which she so greatly deserved. Marinette was that timid, well timid around him, sweet girl that had issues with talking to him. He had thought that maybe he intimidated her, but after she had accepted the offer to hang out with him, he was ruling that out of the picture. He was left with confusion on why she acted as shy as she did.

Then his mind moved to Ladybug. His beautiful, courageous Lady that he absolutely adored. As Chat Noir she would turn twice the amount of sass that he had back onto him in response to his actions and words. She was the one that would always reject his signs of affection, yet always be at his side with a helping hand. However, he liked it much more when he was the one doing the heavy lifting for her. He felt like he saw a different Ladybug when she was hanging in front of his window just last night. The tone in her voice was so sweet, it reminded him of Marinette. Wait- why is he thinking about her once again? His curiosity was on high drive at this point. He wanted to know about Marinette. He wanted to know about Ladybug when he's not clad in black leather ears. Things just seem so much more different when he was Adrien instead of Chat Noir.

Plagg shot an annoyed gaze over at his charge when he heard him sigh for the nth time in the past hour. "How am I supposed to eat my cheese in peace when you're over there draining yourself of air supply?" he grumbled and shoved a piece of Camembert into his mouth.

"I can't help it. There's a lot going on in my mind." Adrien claimed, leaning back against the cushions of the couch.

"A lot as in a girl." Plagg corrected "Human's are so complicated. My motto is to just stick with cheese. It won't let you down or confuse it."

"That's your entire life story, you glutton." Adrien murmured at him and looked up at the ceiling with a small sigh.

Plagg narrowed his eyes at the sighing blonde, pausing with cheese held in between his tiny paws. "Would you stop that already? You're an idiot for getting worked up over any person."

"Maybe if you weren't so hung up with cheese you would understand." Adrien said and looked at his phone to see the time. Just a little longer until it was time for the night patrol.

"I wouldn't be crazy enough to give up my precious cheese for trivial matters." Plagg shook his head and devoured the last of his supply.

Adrien stood and stretched once he saw it come time to go on patrol. "Claws out, Plagg!" he called with a slight grin. Once he was transformed he didn't waste a second before pouncing outside and jolting himself over building tops to arrive at the meeting spot with record time.

Chat Noir leaned patiently against the base of the grande tower as he waited for Ladybug. Of course though she didn't keep her partner waiting very long before she swung down just as gracefully as she always looked to him. A smile spread across his face when he saw that the scarf he had given her was tied around her neck. One might not think much of it, but to him this was a step closer to his goal. The achievement of no more rejections. "Hello again, kitty." Ladybug greeted with a smile as she walked up to the black cat.

"You're looking pawsatively stunning tonight, my lady~" Chat winked to her cunningly.

"My, my, you're in a good mood tonight." Ladybug said as she turned slightly to led him down the sidewalk, her steps quiet as snow flattened down under her feet.

Chat followed closely behind her, putting his hands behind his head comfortably. "You could say I'm feline better than yesterday."

Ladybug looked over her shoulder to him "What was so bad about yesterday?"

"I was just a little sick. Lion in bed was no fun."

Ladybug rolled her eyes at his pun and shook her head "I never will be free from your purrns, will I?"

"My lady, that was just clawful of you." Chat laughed, though he enjoyed her effort very much.

"I blame all of the time I spend with you. At least it's a good thing I don't spend my civilian time with you."

Chat gave her a look of false hurt "You've grown as cold as the winter, bugaboo."

"I think I'm pretty warm thanks to this scarf." She responded as she played around with the cozy, green scarf.

Did he really give her a good gift that she actually liked? And wait. She had kept it for a day so far. No rejection. His luck must have really hit a turning point recently. And what better? A quiet night with his Lady. No Hawkmoth. He might as well die right now and go to heaven. Well, die nine times and then head up there.

The two heroes of Paris sat atop a rooftop, able to finally relax. "Maybe Hawkmoth is taking his own vacation now." Chat thought hopefully as he looked out onto the quiet Paris, "After all, my luck has gotten better recently." He couldn't help but say through a smile.

Ladybug looked back to him "What makes you say that?"

"Well, my civilian life has been more enjoyable," Chat started, thinking about Marinette once more, though not too into it because he felt like he would betraying the love of his life even if she didn't feel the same. "Not to mention Hawkmoth not appearing tonight as well as you having catccepted my gift." He said and felt the end of the scarf with a gloved hand.

Ladybug looked away, feeling heat rise slowly to her face. She tried to shake the feeling away. "It was cold after all so I would be dumb not to accept it." she murmured.

"We could snuggle up if you're so cold, my little bugaboo~" Chat teased and leaned towards her, acting like he was going to pull his arms around her,

"Not that cold, silly cat." Ladybug said and pushed him back upright by a finger to his nose.

Chat didn't mind. He was already expecting that. He put his hands down into his lap as he sat with crossed legs. He looked down when he heard his ring beep in warning. "Sounds like our patrol is coming to an end." He said as he got up and offered a hand down to her in which she accepted for him to help her up.

"At least we got to spend it peacefully." Ladybug smiled took her hand back as she prepared to leave. "Good night, Chat Noir."

"Sweet dreams, Ladybug." Chat called as she swung away back towards her home, leaving him to return back to his own.

 **Please feel free to leave a review! I would love to hear feedback.**


	4. Cat Catches Company

Two days had passed since the last time Adrien had seen Marinette. His weekend had been filled with photoshoots for his modeling career to stay strong. Today he woke up under the assumption that he had yet another photoshoot to attend, however, that wasn't the case. Adrien had to refrain from outwardly showing how blissful he was when his father personally informed him that he had the day off. What made the day even better was that his father had business to do outside of the house. Okay, Adrien was aware that his father rarely made an appearance in the house, but today he was quite happy about this fact.

Adrien smiled to himself as he fell back onto his bed with his phone in hand. He scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he had been searching for. His thumb hovering over the message icon, he paused to contemplate whether or not to go through with this plan. 'What if she doesn't want to be here? Why would she not? She is my friend after all. What if something happens? Nothing is going to happen.' Thoughts began to flood through his mind like a wave, making him paranoid. 'What am I even thinking? There's nothing to stress out about. This will be great.' He nodded to himself and let his thumb hit the message icon.

' _Hi Marinette._ ' Adrien started typing, catching himself from putting "Princess" instead. ' _I'm free today, so maybe you would want to come over and we could do something?_ '

Marinette was currently down in the bakery helping her parents make some pastries when she heard her phone ding from receiving Adrien's message. Marinette pat her hands down on her apron before picking up her phone. She nearly dropped her phone from surprise, catching the attention of her parents. "I-I'm okay.." She laughed nervously before proceeding to read the message. She bit her lip to hold back a squeal from sounding and looked back to her parents with a happy expression, trying to contain herself. "Mama, papa, can I go to Adrien's house for awhile?"

Sabine and Tom exchanged looks before they smiled back to her and nodded approvingly. Of course they would, they liked that boy after all.

Marinette shone a bright smile to them and gave them a hug before running up to her room, almost forgetting to text back in all of her excitement. She went through a few different replies in her head before settling on ' _I'd love to. I'll be right over._ ' Texting was definitely a lot easier for her. That was for sure.

Adrien waited patiently for her response and seemed pleased with the answer. "She said yes."

Plagg seemed discouraged at that "Are you kidding me? You're really going to bring a girl here?" He whined, not at all liking the thought of company, especially not a girl.

"She's a friend and I'd like some company that doesn't smell of cheese." Adrien murmured as he looked at the black kwami sideways.

"Cheese is way better than humans any day." Plagg commented as he floated away "I want no part in this."

Meanwhile, Tikki had the exact opposite reaction. She hugged Marinette's cheek happily. "This is great, Marinette! You finally get some alone time with Adrien!"

"Let's just hope I don't screw it up." Marinette thought nervously but Tikki just shook her head.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine! I'll be right there by you for moral support." Tikki reassured, getting a small smile from Marinette in response.

"Thanks Tikki." Marinette said and opened her clutch for Tikki to hide in before heading out.

Marinette held onto the strap of her purse as she walked down the sidewalks of Paris, mentally preparing herself for what was ahead of her. She stopped out front of the Agreste mansion to gaze upon it. The gate had been left open for her, leaving the entry to the mansion available. She took a deep breath before putting one foot in front of the other until she was at the front door. She raised a shaky hand and planted her knuckles against the hard surface. It wasn't but moments later that the door opened with the model blonde behind it, greeting her with a smile. "Bonjour, Marinette."

Marinette returned the smile full force as she watched him step out of her way.

"Won't you come in?" Adrien asked her welcomely and motioned inside.

Marinette blinked when she realized she hadn't responded back to him. "O-of course! Thank you for having me over." She finally breathed out and stepped quietly inside the grand mansion.

She stood in place as she turned her head to look around at the mansion. Sure she had been there before, but that was as Ladybug. Now she was there as a guest in her civilian form, making the atmosphere much different. She must have zoned out in thought because Adrien tapped her shoulder and called her name.

"What? I'm sorry, I was just fascinated by everything. It's so… so extravagant." Marinette explained

"I was just asking if you had anything in mind that you would want to do." Adrien repeated and looked towards the kitchen area. "I was going to suggest taking a tour to the kitchen, but considering as much as you must be in one, you might not.."

"Oh! That sounds fun!" Marinette stopped him "I'd actually enjoy that." She already begun to feel slightly more comfortable at the thought of being distracted by a place that professional chefs create things. Not to mention the fact that she hasn't seen the kitchen yet.

Adrien nodded to her before turning "This way then." He said and led her into the kitchen, immediately catching Marinette's attention.

"Very impressive… Imagine the kinds of goods I could make in here…" Marinette thought aloud, causing Adrien to perk up

"Why don't you? I mean…" He tried to recover, figuring that might have been a little too straight forward "Feel free to use this place to your heart's content." Honestly, he wanted to eat something of hers. Knowing how her parents bake, he was sure she had the same talent for bakery items.

Marinette waved her hands dismissively in front of her "Oh, no, I wouldn't want to mess up anything… it was just a thought." She smiled nervously

Adrien merely shook his head and walked over to some cabinets and rummaged through them. "No, I'm serious. We even have some stuff you could use. And I'll help you clean up of we make a mess." He promised happily.

Marinette rubbed her head and felt a slight movement from her clutch, Tikki trying to encourage Marinette to go along with the offer. "I-I guess if that's alright with you then I can't deny a good opportunity." And with that Marinette set down her clutch so it would be out of the way and inspected the cabinets with Adrien.

The two decided on making brownies with Marinette in control of what and how ingredients would go in. Adrien played the role of being the one to mix the ingredients up and standing back so he wouldn't be in Marinette's way of working. As time passed, he grew slightly more interested in the way she moved and worked, only to snap himself out of it and remind himself of Ladybug. It was his turn to start daydreaming.

' _They're so similar sometimes… Only that Ladybug can be so hostile in response to my advances…'_ Adrien mentally sighed and watched the timer on the oven tick down. ' _And here Marinette is, having accepted my invitation to be over and keep me company. Well, Ladybug did come to see me, but that wasn't for her partner, that was for Adrien. And now that I think about it, Marinette probably wouldn't do much for Chat Noir considering the last time I asked her about him. Maybe the Chat Noir side of me needs to be chan-'_

The timer of the oven went off, interrupting the conflicted blonde's thoughts. His eyes moved from the timer to the oven door, then all senses but his sense of smell were cut off when the brownie aroma hit his nose. "That smells amazing!" Adrien smiled, trying to hold back the urge to drool.

"They're sure to taste even better." Marinette bet as she took some oven mitts and carefully transferred the batch of brownies onto the stove top. "Give them about five minutes to cool so you won't burn your mouth." She said though Adrien was sure that his mouth would water up enough to where that wouldn't be an issue. He simply just nodded and tried to make time go past by getting out two plates and a knife to cut the batch with.

Marinette delicately took the knife and cut squares into the brownies, placing one on both plates. Trying to be patient, Adrien leaned against the counter and watched his brownie closely. Once it was on his plate he picked it right up and bit into it, instantly feeling his mouth water. The brownie was warm and moist, even as an end piece it wasn't hard on any side.

"H-how is it?" Marinette asked shyly, slowly biting into her own brownie. She couldn't judge her own food considering she ate it frequently. She moved her eyes up to his, trying to judge his thoughts.

"It's absolutely amazing, Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed cheerfully, not being able to savor the last bites of the treat. "Honestly I wish I could eat something that good everyday. Don't tell the chefs I said that." He winked

Heat quickly flushed through Marinette's face, turning it a shade of red in flusterness. "I-I wouldn't call it so good as to be professional chefs or anything…" she looked down and off to the side, trying to hide the redness of her face. "I-it might have been better if you added some ice cream and whipped cream on top."

Adrien didn't give that suggestion a second thought before heading to the refrigerator and pulling out the two items mentioned. He portioned some out on his next brownie and carefully took a bite so that nothing would fall off. He let out a small "Mm~" and smiled brightly. "You definitely know how to impress with this kind of stuff." He said, only making her blush harder.

"W-well I-I guess when you do it for a l-living and all…" Marinette laughed nervously. She tried to water down the feeling by focusing on cleaning up, though that just looked like stiff, robotic movements. Luckily Adrien didn't seem to notice very much and went along with helping her out things back and clean up.

"Do you like anime? We could take the rest of the batch up to the viewing room and eat them in there." Adrien suggested, trying to find something else Marinette would enjoy doing.

' _Watching anime with Adrien? That sure would help me keep my mind off of doing anything stupid around him_.' Marinette considered before nodding to him "Sounds like a plan. Maybe afterwards we could try our hands at some video games." Where that came from, she had no idea. That must have been Tikki's luck reaching out to her.

"Maybe I can redeem myself to you this time around." Adrien laughed and picked up the batch of brownies to lead her to the viewing room. He considered if that response had been too Chat Noir-like. She didn't seem to find it out of character so that was good.

Adrien moved a small side table in between to recliner chairs and set the brownies on top. "Pick whichever seat you'd like and I'll get the discs out." He motioned a hand to the chairs and went to where he stored the discs as Marinette took her spot. She fell back into the recliner quietly as she let out a short breath to calm her nerves. For some reason she still couldn't wrap her head around how this is possibly real. The shy, timid little Marinette caught the attention of the gorgeous and confident Adrien and is now sitting alone with him in his mansion. Did she mention she was alone with him? Marinette opened her purse just enough for her to peek inside and have a glimpse at Tikki for some support. The little red kwami of course gave a bright smile and her version of a thumbs up. That should hold her over a while longer. It's not like this was a date or anything. Just two friends hanging out. But of course the word "alone" always popped back into Marinette's mind, making her uneasy.

"What kind of stuff are you into?" Adrien asked over his shoulder with a collections of discs in front of him.

"Oh, u-uh.. Whatever you like best. I'm sure I'll love you- I mean I'm sure I'll love whatever _you_ pick out." Marinette quickly tried to recover with a small laugh then facepalmed herself once she was sure he wasn't looking. He didn't seem to notice any of it anyway. He stood up with a disc in hand and a smile on his face. "I choose this one then. It's got some action and comedy in it. It's also pretty popular." He started to explain the anime as he slid the CD into a compartment and turned the big screen on.

Letting herself remain silent, Marinette listened along to the plot line as she gazed upon her beautiful classmate. Luckily for her sake he wasn't picking up on her ogling. And somehow during that first episode, she found herself enjoying watching the show just as much as Adrien was. It was only until the light in the room had dimmed a great amount that they realized it was getting late.

"It seems like we got into binge watching this." Adrien said then looked over at her quickly "Oh, uh, there wasn't anything else that you had to do earlier, was there?"

Marinette shook her head quickly "N-not at all, no." she assured "The bakery is all taken care of today."

"That's good. Did you enjoy this? Watching the anime, I mean." He asked

"I enjoyed my entire time here. Thank you." Marinette smiled warmly. She couldn't have asked for a better day. With Tikki's luck running off on her she was able to keep from making a complete fool of herself. Better yet, she believed Adrien really enjoyed having her over. She wouldn't say as much as she did, though. ' _Maybe he would want me over again one day! Ah, who am I kidding, he's a busy person that probably doesn't want to bother so much with that stuff…'_

"It was no problem. I liked having you for company." He said and stood up, stretching. "Come on, I'll walk you out." He offered

Marinette felt heat rise up to her cheeks at the offer. "Th-thanks." She mustered out quietly, her shyness flooding back now that there was no distraction for her. Her legs moved her upright and followed behind the blonde host to the front entrance.

A stream of cool air rushed past the two as the door was pulled opened, sending a small shiver down Marinette and Adrien's spines. "I guess I should have remembered a scarf…" Marinette commented as she adjusted her jacket against her.

"You could borrow mine if-"

"A-ah, no th-thanks… I'll be o-okay." Marinette smiled awkwardly "My house isn't that far away anyways." She said and stepped onto the porch and turned to wave at him. "Au Revoir!" she called before running home.

Marinette waited until she was off of the Agreste property to lean against a wall and sigh blissfully. "I did it…"

Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse and fluttered up to her face. "I'm proud of you, Marinette. You got through that whole time without passing out once. Not to mention you didn't stutter or blurt out something embarrassing a lot." She smiled brightly

"I think I could pass out now that I'm out and he won't see me do it." Marinette laughed and pulled her tiny red friend close to her. "Thanks for the help, Tikki. Now all I have left to do is tell Alya!" she said as she stood up straight and resumed her journey home.

 **So sorry for the long wait on the new chapter! (^_^;) I'll try to be more up-to-date with getting new chapters up.**


	5. Cat Catches Curiosity

_This is really turning out to be a great break._ Adrien thought happily to himself as he laid back on the plush couch that sat in his room. An entire day had come and gone since his time together with Marinette, but he still felt as though it was yesterday. Or rather, he might just have wanted it to be yesterday so that it didn't feel that long since his house didn't feel so lonely.

Two night patrols had passed with Ladybug and they still served him the same thoughts; Ladybug even now acted in playful hostility towards his Chat Noir alter persona and showed no signs of fully accepting his love attempts. However, she did remember that scarf he gave her, and that made him feel warm inside. _Marinette though, she made the entire house warm. But, so did Ladybug when she had come to visit me that night I was sick…_ Then again, Marinette seemed fully interested in him. Okay, well he was unaware she was interested in _that_ way, but he just felt something different with her. Regardless though, he still loved Ladybug even if she didn't feel the same. Contradicting thoughts continued to swim around in his head.

The lonely boy looked over to the windows of his room and pondered whether or not he should go out. "It's too early for any patrols with Ladybug…" he said aloud and saw the gray clouds that were hanging over. "And it might rain on me if I go to stop by Marinette's. Both are probably busy anyways," he sighed defeatedly.

Plagg let out a sigh of his own, only that it was agitated. "You don't need any girl." He butt in and put a paw on his own chest in a haughty manner. "Cheese and I are all you need! We're way better than any girl!"

"Sorry, but I still enjoy those two's company. Even though I love Ladybug, I still really liked having Marinette over," he said then quickly added "and not just because she makes awesome food either. She's really nice and cool and we have some of the same interests..." He said, beginning to go off on a tangent.

"You act like I care or something." Plagg interrupted, stopping Adrien's train of thought. "All I want is some cheese. Camembert at that. The stinkiest and smelliest there is."

Adrien shot him a look and stood up, waving a hand of dismissal towards his curt kwami. "You just don't understand. A mansion as big as this one gets lonely without someone in it whose presence you're fond of." He stretched his arms out wide to emphasize the vastness of the mansion. One person alone looked like a spot of dust in comparison to the entire building.

Sad but true, in such an elaborate and high-end place such as the Agreste mansion, even the riches and nice things can't sway Adrien's mind that he was very alone. At least he could look back on when Marinette was with him and look forward to patrolling with his lady to bring a smile back to his face. What would make him even happier was if Ladybug would swoop into his window and pay him another visit. But that thought only made him laugh. _My sudden string of luck couldn't be strong enough to bring her in without some akuma attack against me or anything._ he shook his head to himself as he found himself roaming the halls. _If this were Japan where black cats are considered good luck, then maybe that would be possible, but for now I just have to hope my luck lasts._

Plagg lazily floated behind the wandering blonde, hoping that maybe he was headed towards the kitchen. "I hope you're on your way to get me Camembert. I'm hungry…" he moaned and rubbed his little, black stomach with his tiny paws. Not watching where he was going, the glutton kitty hit the back of Adrien's head, who had suddenly stopped walking. "He-"

"Shhh!" Adrien silenced him with hands around Plagg. The blonde had moved to an end side of a door, pressing his ear against the surface. "I thought I heard something from inside, but Father has been gone on business as well as Natalie." He whispered in a low voice so only Plagg could hear. "So there shouldn't be anyone in this house except for me and you."

After a few moments of eavesdropping on what was inside, Adrien pulled his ear away from the door and nodded. "Someone is definitely in there."

"Can't you just let them be and get me my cheese?" Plagg muffled a whine from being bound in Adrien's hands.

"Whoever is in there has to be up to no good. Whatever's in that room…" Adrien said quietly. Honestly he had no clue on what was behind the door or what anyone could possibly be doing in there. He hadn't been in that room before. In all honesty, there was a lot of places in the mansion that hadn't been in before.

"Plagg! Claws out!" He called before the black cat kwami had the chance to protest anymore.

After transforming, the cat clad in black slid back to the door and touched a gloved hand on the handle. Holding his breath he slowly turned the knob and pushed the door until it was cracked just enough to be able to peek into the room.

The room was dark. Almost pitch black. With the help of his night vision, however, Chat Noir was able to see in it. From what he could see from looking through the crack was that the room seemed virtually empty as well as vast. There was a bunch of objects on the floor but he couldn't tell exactly what they were. _They seem… alive…_ he thought to himself. An uneasy feeling swept over him, making him go stiff. If he had known better, he would have stopped to consider routes he should take, but his curiosity had other plans. With a single motion the door swung all the way open, revealing a tall, dark figure at the back of the room. He was too stunned to know whether or not he himself was the one that made the door open all the way. The floor lit up white with what looked like hundreds of little butterflies. Only they were glowing an angelic white. With the door now open, the room was lit up enough to see inside.

 _What's going on in here…? What is this place?_ There was no time for Chat to process any information before a deep voice disrupted his entire thought process.

"What an unexpected visit… Chat Noir."

It wasn't until the figure turned that Chat figured out who it was. His body tensed up even more immediately as he clenched his fists. _Remember, no words about this being my house._ he reminded himself as he cracked a grin onto his face. "Looks like I've finally found you… Hawk Moth. Who would have guessed that you infiltrated a civilian's home like this."

Not to mention, this was his home he was talking about. At least there was no one home to be put in danger. Now the issue was how he was going to deal with him. He definitely wasn't going to leave peacefully.

"I see you've come alone. Oh well, we'll have more company soon enough. And by the end of this, your miraculous will be mine." Hawk Moth closed a fist towards himself with a menacing look.

Chat moved a hand behind him to grab his staff and moved it in front of him. "That's where you're wrong. It's just you and me and I'll be sure to take you out for all that you've done." He promised before lunging at him with his staff. There was no more room for thinking.

Hawk Moth laughed in response and blocked the attack with his cane. "Don't underestimate me." He warned "Have you forgotten who I am? The one responsible for such powers of the foes you've fought?"

Chat jumped back to prepare another attack. "I don't care what standards you put yourself out to be. Now that I have you in my line of sight, I'm not letting you out so easily no matter what it takes!" he growled and pounced right back onto him with baton in hand.

 _I want to put him in his place myself without endangering others. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of this guy._

Hawk Moth raised his cane and struck back against him, sending the black cat against the wall with a swarm of now black and purple butterflies headed straight for him.

 _Gotta calm down! I can't let them put me under control!_ Chat reminded himself, trying to bring his anger down to a minimum despite how much hatred he had for the villain in front of him.

 _Calm down! Calm down! You need to calm down!_

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

The time had come for Paris' beloved heroes' patrol. The sky was gloomy with dark clouds raining over the city, giving off a dreadful atmosphere to the citizens. Ladybug was one of those people. She stood under a roof in order to shield herself from the freezing rain. "At least it's not cold enough for it to be snowing…" she thought aloud to herself, trying to be optimistic. She outstretched her hand to let water drop down on it even though with her costume, her hand remained dry.

Looking around the streets, Ladybug let out a long sigh, "Where is that silly cat at? He's probably thinking he can skip patrol just so he doesn't get his ears wet." She shrugged slightly "At least there's no akuma attacks going on for me to need his help."

The streets were nearly empty of any human presence. The cold rain sent many to take shelter in their homes where there they could stay warm and dry. Cars rushed by one by one up and down the streets, sending water off to the sidewalks. Ladybug began to count them to try to get her mind off of the fact that Chat was late.

One, two, three… Twelve, thirteen, fourteen… Fifty eight, fifty nine, sixty… Ninety nine, one hundred.

Only about ten more cars later was Ladybug started to grow really impatient. "This isn't like him. He's definitely not the type to make especially _me_ wait around." Ladybug started, beginning to grow worried. Sure, Chat Noir wasn't a fan of being out in the rain, but he definitely pulls his weight and shows up to all patrols if he has anything to say about it. "Maybe I should at least try to contact h-"

As if on cue, the spotted hero's yoyo rang. "Finally he tells me something…" She said with a sigh and clicked to accept the call. "Chat Noir, what do you think you- you…" The sight of Chat Noir struggling against the force of Hawk Moth send her entire body frozen in place. "Ch…Chat Noir!"

Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She gripped her yoyo tightly in her hand and clenched her teeth at Hawk Moth who now looked to the screen.

"Hello, Ladybug. Are you missing anyone? This little stray cat wandered into here. Won't you care to join us~?" Hawk Moth asked in a cunning way

"M-my la-dy! Don't come! I'll b-be okay!" Chat struggled out, hoping she wouldn't come. _She can't come! I can't have her hurt…_

"Ignore him. Meet us at the Agreste mansion. You should know where that is." Hawk Moth invited and with that he ended the call, leaving Ladybug completely frozen solid.

"A-A-Agreste mansion?!" She repeated to herself, trying to make sense of what was happening. One moment her mind was fixated on her partner that was in trouble then it moved to the thought of Adrien being in trouble. _Does Hawk Moth have Adrien too? What if he- No! Adrien has to be safe. There was nothing of him mentioned, right? So he has to be fine. But Chat Noir… God help him… He's gotten himself into a dangerous situation somehow. And at that he didn't want me to help him!_ Ladybug swung her yoyo in anger, heading to the stated place. _I'm his partner! I need to help him!_ She was determined now. She was going to arrive and help her partner.

"No wonder he didn't show up for patrol… Hang on, Chat. I'm coming for you!" Ladybug called out as she swung from rooftop to rooftop in the pouring, freezing rain of winter.

Ladybug arrived on the Agreste property in record time. She headed inside, finding the place empty. "Where are they…?" she wondered to herself, running around to each room until she found the right one.

Chat had broken away from Hawk Moth at this point and shot his head towards the door where Ladybug stood. "Ladybug!"

"What's going on here?" Was all Ladybug could ask as she moved right over to Chat's side. She would have to save the questioning about how he found their arch nemesis for later.

Chat didn't look too happy about her arrival, as ironic as it was. "You shouldn't have come. Now you're in danger too. It's definitely more difficult than what we thought it out to be."

Ladybug couldn't help but to jab him in the side in annoyance. "We're a team. Whatever you get into, so do I. That's how this deal works."

Chat let out a reluctant sigh, regaining his cool. "Let's not get ourselves worked up. We can't afford to be akumatized." He said in a more calm manner.

 _Even in a confined space I had a difficult time just getting close to him. And these akuma don't make the job any easier with what they can do._ Chat thought to himself _My best bet is to just keep trying to land attacks on him and keep him close._

Chat positioned himself with his staff gripped in hand. "Let's go, LB." he said before jolting towards their target, trying again and again to strike him good enough with Ladybug backing him up.

Ladybug distanced herself from Chat and jumped to the other side of Hawk Moth in order to double team him. She figured it was better if she didn't use her lucky charm yet. The result of the battle has yet to be decided. Not to mention the fact that they haven't actually dealt with Hawk Moth before in the past so they really don't know how to take him out. Using her lucky charm without a decided plan could run her time out of her miraculous and leave her vulnerable to Hawk Moth. She wasn't about to lose Tikki to the likes of him. Not to the likes of anyone.

Ladybug and Chat Noir lunged at their target from opposite directions. Ladybug aimed her yoyo at the cane in Hawmoth's hand as Chat set his sights on Hawmoth himself. "We've got you n-"

"Ow!"

One moment he was in their sights, the next he was standing somewhere else. The two heroes slammed into each other and fell to the floor with the yoyo entwining the two together.

"This is certainly a lucky turn of events for me." Hawkmoth smirked, walking back to the constricted duo. "I'll be taking both of your miraculous now."

"Chat Noir, do something!" Ladybug shouted as she struggled to try to pull back the yoyo and undo it.

Chat stretched to reach for his baton and extended it the moment Hawk Moth grabbed for his ring, sending their enemy into the wall. This gave Ladybug enough time to set them free and get Chat to his feet. "Good job, kitty," Ladybug praised, bringing a smile to the proud cat's face.

"What can we do to end this?" Chat asked

"Try getting rid of that brooch of his." Ladybug answered

Chat nodded understandingly and watched the akuma swarm around Hawk Moth, a black and purple color glowing.

"No more games." Hawk Moth remarked as the akuma departed from him. He gripped the stick of his cane, the tip glowing purple and directed at the two. "It's time to get back what's mine."

Chat narrowed his eyes at that and put a foot forward. "You should check your watch because nothing here is yours. It's a purrfect time for you to paws where you are and accept defeat by our hands- or claws- once again," he said and activated his cataclysm.

Ladybug already had a bad feeling about what was going on in front of her but had no time to move before Chat was running towards Hawk Moth with his cataclysm ready to go.

She saw Chat reach towards the purple brooch, then, she saw purple. A big, bright, purple stream. She thought it came from the cane that Hawk Moth was holding, but all thoughts disappeared from mind when she saw that the purple blast had hurled Cat back against the wall and onto the-uh oh.

The cataclysm was still activated. The floor began to crumble away. What floor were they on? Ladybug had pressed herself against the wall at first glimpse of the purple flood, luckily still standing on a fraction of the floor that survived under her. That was just her luck for her but what of the unlucky black cat that she called a partner?

The floor was gone from where he had fell. And below was too dark to see for her non-night vision sight to pick things up clearly. The only thing she was sure of was the loud crash that sounded at the bottom of the newly-created abyss.

"CHAAAAAAAT!"

* * *

 **Here's a rope to help you out with the cliffhanger that I left you on. I'll be deciding what my next move will be~ ;D**


	6. Cat Catches Chance

**My goal is to make you cry, but I highly doubt I'll accomplish that here. Anywho, enjoy~**

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There was a flash. And then there was anxiety.

The room was empty. All except for the traumatized Ladybug. Frozen in place she stared into the crater that was recently created in the floor. She hadn't even noticed that their fierce foe had vanished from all sight. Not that she could care very much for anything else except for one thing: Chat.

It all happened so fast. She had saw her brave partner go for Hawk Moth's miraculous. Everything after that was a blur. A terrifying blur. Ladybug was brought out of her trance when the pulsing of her heartbeat reached her eardrums.

"L-lu-lucky charm!" Ladybug choked out, getting a rope in response.

Ladybug didn't waste a second before tying one end of the rope to a secure object and the other around herself. She tested the rope before carefully lowering herself down into the large hole in the floor, reaching the ground level. She untied the rope from around her waist and slowly walked to the still figure in the middle of the floor.

 _Please be okay... Please be... Let him be okay..._ Was all that went through Ladybug's mind at the moment.

The heroine's feet stopped moving when she reached her partner's side. She found herself kneeling beside him when her knees gave way under her. "Ch-chat...?" She asked as she she flipped him over onto his back. The palms of her became warm with blood, making a chill go up her spine.

 _Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god... The suit... Didn't protect... him..._

"Chat Noir! Please wake up!" Ladybug called to him, convinced that he was merely passed out from the fall. A very. Long. Fall. _Maybe Lucky Charm can fix this... Yeah! It has to!_ she thought hopefully to herself and allowed herself to move away from Chat Noir for enough time to throw the rope into the air and call out lucky charm once more.

She watched as the ceiling closed up like there was never a hole in it to begin with. The house was now restored. She looked back to Chat, but he was still down.

 _It didn't... work?_ Ladybug thought in a depressed manner, moving back to her partner. The sound of his ring beeping made her go from sad to worried real quick. _No! No! Not the detransformation!_

Ladybug crouched down to Chat and picked him up as carefully as she could before running out of the Agreste mansion and off of the property. She only got up to the rooftops before her own miraculous started to beep in warning.

She was able to get into an alley way that shielded them from any lingering eyes by the time both of them had transformed back into their normal selves. Marinette, however, had her eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see who was behind Chat's mask.

In contrast, Tikki felt no desire to look away. She knew that they had to get Chat help. "Marinette..." she said. "We don't have any time for you to shy away from this. You need to get him help quickly."

"Tik-" Marinette couldn't even get a word out before she was interrupted again.

"Marinette! Just look already!"

Marinette bit her bottom lip before slowing looking in the direction that she laid Chat down. What she saw stunned her nearly dead.

Adrien.

"A-A-A-Adrien?!" Marinette's exclaimed, her heart picking up speed again. "Cha-"

"Marinette! Worry about that later!" Tikki interrupted once more. At this time she was beside Plagg, who she found to also be unmoving. "I'm taking him to Master Fu. You're going to forget about the revelation for now and get Adrien to some help," she said and without further ado she took Plagg away to get him to Master Fu.

Marinette watched her go with anxiety in her eyes. She looked back to Adrien and picked him up once again. She had to be quick. One, because it was still pouring down rain and she didn't want them to be soaking wet. And two, because she couldn't have anyone seeing her carrying the famous, and unconscious, Adrien Agreste around Paris in her arms.

She needed to get him to the hospital. Luckily for her there was one not too far away. She ran as fast as she could, avoiding puddles and open streets as much as possible. It definitely was a lot harder without the strength of Ladybug, but that didn't stop her from getting her to a doctor.

Lucky for Adrien, or rather, lucky for his status, a doctor was more than willing to push him to the front of the line to be able to see him.

"What happened to him?" Was the first question to pop from the doctor as Adrien was being escorted to an open room.

"He was-" Marinette paused just for a moment to get her story straight. She couldn't tell anyone that he was fighting Hawk Moth. So instead she went with a still truthful and believable response. "He was involved in an akuma attack," she explained, her voice still choked up. "A bad one. R-really bad..."

With a nod the doctor left it at that and went to attending the hurt blonde, leaving the dark haired girl to wait outside. What felt like a life time past by Marinette when the doctor came out of the room with an expression that said it all. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Putting a hand on Marinette's back, the doctor gently guided her into the room.

"There was nothing we could do. Nothing except for stop the bleeding," the doctor informed. "I'm sorry."

Marinette moved away from the doctor to go to the side of her friend. She slowly moved her hands out and closed them over his. A drop of water on her hands startled her. She was crying. Crying because she was so stupid. So stupid to not be able to see that her flirtatious parter was Adrien all along. So stupid to not be able to protect him from Hawk Moth's final blow. So stupid to not be able to do anything.

What could she do? She was too caught up in finding out finally who her partner's secret identity was to be able to take him straight to the hospital when the time was dire. She was too late. Too stupid. Maybe if she would have gotten a hold of herself faster, she wouldn't be in this situation. And the answer to the question: all she could do was cry.

Her heart ached more than it ever have before. Not just because she had been rejecting her crush for a long time coming now. No, it wasn't that. Chat Noir was her best friend. Her biggest fan. Her little, punny shadow that followed her around. What made it worse? He had never failed at protecting her. Never. Not once. He protected her from Dark Cupid's arrow. He protected her from Time Breaker's hand. He even protected her from Reflekta's transforming beam. And what does she do in return? She didn't protect him from Hawk Moth. She wasn't backing him up at the time he needed it the most.

Clenching her fists around Adrien's, Marinette knelt beside the bed and pressed her forehead on top of their hands. She continued to cry and cry and cry. She cried until there were no more tears. She cried until she made herself sick. She cried until her face was red and irritated with tear stains.

"I-I'm so so-rry, A-Adrien..." Marinette hiccuped tiredly, rubbing her thumbs over the top of his hands. "I-if only I-I had- another- chance... I would- I would do better next time!" she promised, burying her face further into his side "I wouldn't ever let you down again!"

Marinette shut her eyes tightly and continued to lay there, completely exhausted. "I'm so sorry... Give me another chance... Please... I would do anything..." she basically whispered before passing out beside him, unable to stay conscious any longer.

 _Don't take him away from me..._

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Hours passed. The doctor had allowed them the time alone, feeling it was in the best interest not to force Marinette out when she was in the state that she was in. She was grateful for that, too. She needed to be here. With Adrien. Even if it pained her to do so.

There was a gentle touch. One that comforted Marinette unlike anything else. She expected it to be her parents. But wait, she didn't give the doctor her name. So that couldn't be it. Finally, she slowly opened her eyes and tried to adjust her vision against her surrounding. She picked her face up from the bed sheet slowly and saw an arm outreached with a hand on her head.

Her vision was able to focus but was soon blurred once again. Tears swelled up in her eyes with what she saw. Adrien.

 _Am I dreaming? No... The warmth of this hand is so clear. I'm awake. I'm definitely awake._

"A-Adrien... Y-you-"

"Marinette..." It was spoken in a soft whisper. The sound of his voice, his audible voice, sent a steady stream of heat into her previously cold body.

Her tears flowed once more despite being dried out before from crying so hard. Warm tears streamed down Marinette's cheeks once more as a smile came to her face. "You're alive... You're really... alive..." she cried out, unable to stop the tears from coming no matter how many times she wiped her eyes with her sleeves.

Adrien didn't really remember what had happened to him. Last thing he knew was... _That's right... We were fighting Hawk Moth. Well, Ladybug and I were. Adrien didn't know Ladybug was Marinette or vise versa since he was, what was he? Did I fall asleep? How did I get in the hospital? Why is Marinette here- actually who cares about that part. I'm really happy that she's here with me and... why is she crying? I have a lot to catch up on..._ "I'm really glad that you're by my side, Marinette," he said and just now took notice of what she was wearing around her neck. The scarf Chat Noir had gifted Ladybug.

 _Now I'm curious of what happened. Did Ladybug lend her that scarf? What exactly happened while I was... out?_

Adrien was about to say something when Marinette suddenly leaned over and have him a hug, being careful not to make it too tight. "I'm so sorry, Adrien. And I'm sure you're really confused right now so please come with me and we can talk," she said then added timidly "That is if you're feeling good enough to move around."

Adrien gave her a nod. "I think I'm alright."

"I'm glad." Marinette pulled back from the hug and wiped her eyes once more to get rid of the rest of her tears. She took a few steps away from the bed, allowing room for him to get out and stand.

It wasn't until Adrien started to move his upper body that he started to feel pain. He winced quietly and stuck a hand to his chest, making Marinette give a worried look. "I-I'm alright," he assured her.

Marinette seemed convinced by that and nodded, beginning to walk. "W-we can go to my house if you'd like. Since it's wet outside and all..."

Adrien followed beside her and gave her a small smile. "That sounds perfect," he said. _Luckily she didn't suggest to talk at my house. Or does she know about it?_ The next thing on his mind was: _Oh no! Where is Plagg?! There's no way I can bail from her right now so I'm just going to have to hope that he's fine until I have a time to find him myself._

Outside the weather had cleared out for the most part. Gray clouds still blanketed the sky but at least it was only sprinkling now. Marinette walked in silence down the wet sidewalks, glancing at herself in the puddles that she walked past along the way. She got into the bakery and saw that her parents had already closed shop for the night. That was in her favor in the instance that she wouldn't have to explain what Adrien was doing with her. And not during school at that. She led him up into her room and gestured to her bed. "H-have a seat."

The blonde obeyed without a second thought and looked at her patiently, sensing that she was feeling very uneasy.

Marinette pulled her desk chair over and sat down in it as she looked down at her scarf, playing with the ends of it. _He doesn't know who I am... He never saw me detransform. Maybe he won't acc- No, I can't worry about that. His secret is out and he wants to know what happened. The only way to tell him is to reveal my secret as well._ She took a deep breath and thought some more before finally speaking.

"Y-you're p-probably wondering how I got involved..." Marinette said slowly, trying her best not to stutter. "I-I was there..."

Adrien's eyes widened at that "You were there? How?"

"...You gave me this scarf." Marinette started, not seeming to exactly answer his question. "...But as Chat Noir."

"I gave that to..."

"To Ladybug. Yes, I know. You were dressed in black. And I was in red," Marinette said quietly, looking down. She mentally prepared her for everything that could come next. Everything except for what actually happened.

"You're... my lady. Ladybug is you. You're Ladybug. I found my lady. Who she really is." The tone in his voice definitely caught her the most by surprise. Why did he sound so happy? Wasn't he supposed to be... well, disappointed?

"You're not upset by that fact?"

Adrien shook his head happily. "The very opposite honestly," he admitted, getting blush from Marinette in response. "I guess I could have guessed eventually... But let's put that aside for right now. What happened? Why was I in the hospital? W-" he stopped once he saw the smile and blush fade away from her face. "Marinette...?"

The dark haired girl gripped the ends of her scarf, forcing the tears back. "You had your cataclysm activated... and you were headed towards Hawk Moth's miraculous..." she started. "You were- you almost had it. But, Hawk Moth shot some sort of purple light at you. It sent you back. You hit a wall and landed on the floor. That's where your cataclysm came into contact. Most of the floor just... crumbled away. Luckily I was in a spot that didn't disappear, but you... you fell down into it. Down to the ground level... And when I finally got down to you, you were bleeding and unmoving. Even lucky charm didn't- it didn't heal you. So I picked you up and headed out but only got so far as an alley way. That's when I saw who you were. After my transformation released as well, I took you to the hospital. They said that there was nothing left for them to do. You were j-just gone. It was all my fau-"

"Stop. Please... Don't finish that word." Adrien said in a low voice. He knelt on the floor in front of her to be able to take her hands in his, seeing the blood stains on her palms. "Princess," he started, making her blink in surprise. "Please don't blame yourself... It wasn't your fault."

"I cou- I couldn't protect you... After everything that you've done for me... I couldn't return the favor and I let you get killed..." Marinette choked out.

"I have 8 left," Adrien said in attempt to calm her down.

"8 left?" She asked him, not comprehending what he meant.

"Cats have 9 lives. I have 8 left." He smiled softly to her. "And I'd happily use them in effort of continuing to protect you."

"You stupid cat..." Marinette sniffled and wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, laying her cheek on the top of his head. "I love you too much to let you try that kind of stunt again."

Adrien's body turned stiff. He tried to glance up at her but couldn't from how she was hugging him. "W-what..?"

Now it was Marinette's turn to freeze up. All that came out of her mouth was a stammering of vowels and constants that didn't exactly make any sense.

"Y-you love me...?" Adrien asked. He felt her arms readjust around his neck and her cheek nuzzle gently against the top of his head. That was a good enough answer for him. He let his body relax and gently hugged her legs since he couldn't get her waist at the moment. "I'm so glad you feel that way, Princess... Honestly."

"I promised that I would be different if I got you back. That I would try harder and never allow you to leave me like that again. I need my partner to stay with me and keep me company with all of his lame puns," Marinette admitted.

Adrien was too flattered to come back with a pun like he had intended. Instead he let out a small sound that resembled a cat purr. "My lady really does love me..." he sighed happily. "Thank you, Marinette. For everything," he said then asked after awhile, "I suppose now I can ask you where Plagg is?"

"Plagg?" Marinette repeated

"My kwami," he clarified

"Oh right. Tikki, my kwami, she took him to Master Fu. He was in very bad shape as well. I can't say when they'll be back, though," Marinette said and released Adrien's neck. "I-If you want you could stay here for when they come b-back..." Marinette suggested.

"I wouldn't mind waiting here with you," Adrien nodded

"Ah, you must be hungry too. I could get us something to eat if you'd like."

Adrien's face lit up at that, nodding quickly "Anything would be perfect."

"I'll be right back then, kitty," Marinette said without thinking then looked to him to see that he was more than fine with being called that.

She left him in her room to go down into the bakery and pick out a few things for them to eat. After all, it has been many hours since their last meal. She came back up with a try full of different bakery goods. The sight made Adrien's mouth start to water.

"Have whatever you'd like," Marinette offered, having the blonde graciously accept the food.

"You're a lifesaver," Adrien said as he shoved some sort of breaded treat in his mouth, not even bothering to identify the food first. "Literally and figuratively."

Marinette sat down on the bed beside him to share the tray with him. "Feeding you is the least I can do for you."

Adrien shook his head and swallowed what was in his mouth before speaking. "Not just the food, but for you helping me like you did. You took me to get help and stayed beside me. Even if I had... used one of my nine lives, you still stayed to keep me company. You said you loved me and I believe it's something deeper than whatever anyone else may feel towards me," he explained with a genuine tone. His eyes were met with hers at this point in the conversation, causing heat to rise to her cheeks again.

"I-I guess if I would have known sooner, there would have been a lot less scenes of me acting like a babbling idiot whenever I tried to talk to you," Marinette murmured, embarrassed now.

"It's alright. You didn't want to have the cat out of the bag."

Marinette couldn't help but to let out a short, quiet laugh in response to that. She shook her head. "I'm kind of glad that it's all out in the open now..."

"Kind of?" Adrien repeated, leaning his face close to her own.

"M-m-maybe a l-lot...?" Marinette's face heated up even more when their faces subconsciously moved closer together.

"I'm dead for two minutes and here you are trying hitting on the girl that saved you," a familiar, cocky voice interrupted.

"P-Plagg!" Adrien exclaimed, looking over and seeing his black kwami crossing his arms while floating just a few feet away from them.

Marinette took one look at Tikki's impressed expression before quickly nibbling on the food in closest reach for her to try and regain her face color.

Adrien stood up and took Plagg in his hands, giving him a hug, ignoring the fact that the glutton cat hated this kind of affection. Or any kind of affection to be more precise.

"Get your hands off me!" Plagg ordered, struggling to get away. "And get me my cheese for what you did to me!"

Adrien let him go and sighed in relief "I'm happy that you're okay."

"I am now, no thanks to you." Plagg muttered, going back to crossing his arms. "Next time don't be such a careless idiot."

Adrien rubbed the back of his head and nodded "Y-yeah... I know already. You're a little too late."

Marinette greeted Tikki back with a warm hug and offered her a cookie for her troubles. "I could get him some food if he wants."

"Maybe you could stick around her for awhile longer..." Plagg thought, floating towards Marinette.

"Don't worry about anything. We'll be right back," Marinette said before taking Plagg down.

Once they were gone Adrien turned towards Tikki in interest. "So you're the Ladybug kwami."

"So you're the guy Marinette's been head over heels for since forever." The red kwami smiled innocently.

The blonde almost immediately went red at that and nodded slowly. "Ah, I, uh.. Y-yeah..."

"It took you long enough," Tikki winked before Marinette and Plagg emerged into the room again.

"You're free to stay until he finishes his cheese I gave him," Marinette offered

Adrien gave a nod of thanks to her. "That won't take him very long to do." He watched the cat chomp down on the cheese wheel that was much larger than his entire body. One would think that he wouldn't be able to fit all of that in his stomach, but he definitely proved that wrong. It was gone in no time. "I should be heading home before anyone notices I'm gone." That was, if they didn't already get a call from the hospital about what happened.

The ring sucked Plagg into it, transforming Adrien into Chat Noir. The hero took one of Marinette's hands in his and landed a kiss softly on top of it. "Thank you again, Princess. I purromise to see you again very soon."

If not for that pun Marinette would have been sent into a babbling episode again from the kiss on her hand. It's effect was much different now that she knew Chat's identity. She gave him a soft smile and slowly took her hand back once he released it. "Goodbye, kitty. Be safe, okay? No more risking one of your now 8 lives."

"Cat's honor," he said, putting one hand on his heart and the other in the air. He moved towards the balcony and looked back at her once more, not wanting to leave her. Not after everything that had happened today. But he still had to go home. Even though it was cold and lonesome inside, he still had to go back before anyone came searching for him. "Goodnight, Purrincess."

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 **Stay tuned for more （＾** **ω＾）**


	7. Cat Catches Complications

Adrien had slept blissfully that night. Reminiscing on the fact that yesterday he learned the truth about his lady made his heart feel at ease. No more sleepless nights consisting of conflicting feelings divided against his lady who owned his heart and his sweet friend who was slowly working her way into it. Finally, he could settle all of his love for both sides of the same girl. He had even gone on with texting her this morning right when he woke up. Since he figured greeting her bright and early as Chat Noir would have been a little too sudden, he settled for the second best thing. Well, third best, one after calling her on the phone. If she wasn't awake yet he didn't want to disturb her. That and he didn't want Natalie accidentally over hearing anything he was saying just to inform his father about it.

 _How would my father even react? I mean… She's not my girlfriend- is she?_ Adrien took the moment while waiting for Marinette's response to think about what he was to her now. "I'm sure she would accept me. It was definitely clear that we had… something…?"

"Just ask her already if you want to know so bad," Plagg huffed out. He definitely didn't care for mushy subjects such as relationship statuses.

"Can I do that? Just ask out of the blue?" Adrien questioned as if his kwami actually cared to answer.

Of course Plagg didn't answer. He swooped down and took the phone from the boy's lap, taking the situation into his own hands; literally.

Adrien struggled to try to take his phone back before anything was sent, but failed. The phone dropped onto the bed and Plagg fell into the clutch of the blonde's hands. He was about to scold him just as he heard a familiar voice that made him completely freeze up.

"Adrikins~"

Adrien slowly turned his head to see Chloe entering his room in a way that he couldn't really explain. She looked happy but at the same time relieved yet worried. Whatever it was, it was contradicting. _Why is she here? Oh crap, I need to hide Plagg!_

"U-uh just one moment!" Adrien bolted out of his room past the flustered girl and headed to the bathroom. Locking the door behind him, he looked down at Plagg with a stern look. "What did you send?"

"Simple. Simple. I only asked what you two were to each other," Plagg answered nonchalantly.

"Is that it? Nothing sneaky? No hints?" Adrien asked.

"Nothing more. Nothing less," Plagg promised.

* * *

However, Marinette was getting a very different vibe from the messages she was receiving.

A: _Honestly, what's the status between us now?_

The sight of that question made Marinette blush immediately. "He might have been a little blunt with that," Marinette thought as she found the tone as hasty "but that could just be him wanting to get the question out before changing his mind."

M: _I guess it's whatever you want us to be? I mean, both people have to feel the same way to be something, right?_

The next messages caused the blush to disappear and have a heavy feeling replace it.

A: _Then I say we're just friends. If even that. I have someone else that I like way more._

Marinette was unable to respond for the longest time. She sat there with her mouth opened wide like a gaping fish. _W-what the heck does that mean?!_ She shook her head, becoming in denial. "Maybe he thought he was texting someone else…"

M: _What do you mean by "just friends" and "if even that"?_

A: _I'm dating someone now so I have no more time for you. See you in class. Maybe. Look in the news to answer any other questions._

"S-see you in class?!" Marinette exclaimed with complete astonishment.

"That doesn't sound like him. Chat Noir nor Adrien." Tikki shook her head. She saw those two last night. She didn't believe he could just say those things now. No matter what had happen over night. No, just a few minutes ago. He sounded so much more interested then.

"Come on, Tikki. I'm looking into whatever _news_ there is about him." Marinette put her phone into her pocket before jumping up and heading out with Tikki finding her place in the clutch.

* * *

After his discussion with Plagg, Adrien remained locked inside the bathroom for a short time more in order to try and figure out why Chloe was here. "Why did she suddenly come? Did she just let herself in? That would be very typical of her…"

"The longer you stay in here, the longer you'll wait for your answer. Go get her out of here and bring me back the girl with the cheese," Plagg requested, meaning Marinette.

Adrien sighed, "I highly doubt that will be easy to accomplish. Stay hidden." Unlocking the door, Adrien stepped out and headed back to his room. "Alright, Chloe. What's brought you here?"

Chloe flung herself at the model and hugged him tightly, trying to kiss his face but only getting rejected, making her upset. "I just had to come and make sure that you were okay!" she exclaimed dramatically. "Just _everyone_ knows the condition you were in!"

"About tha-" Adrien cut himself off and gave her a look. "Wait… What do you mean, _everyone_?"

"Well, it's in the news and of course your magazine~" Chloe responded, handing him a copy of today's paper.

Adrien quickly took it and read over the contents thoroughly. It seemed pretty normal to him. It just explained: _Famous Adrien Agreste gets a miraculous recovery_ and then proceeds to fill in the little details about how he was admitted, found dead, then miraculously walked out with his female companion. To his relief the "miraculous" part had no connection to what he thought they were implying. Only to replenish anxiety in him, he read at the bottom of the article how "it seems that the lucky model has found himself a lucky lady." Good thing was that there was no mention of the name of the "lucky lady" anywhere in the article. He couldn't help but to laugh at the fact that they called Marinette lucky. _They definitely got that spot on_ , Adrien thought to himself and laughed again at his own pun. Clever.

Chloe took notice of his laughing and assumed it was in response to the same thing she was thinking. "Isn't it great? I'm mentioned in the paper." Chloe then added with a hair flip, "Not like I'm not already a hot topic as it is."

Adrien blinked. "You're in here?"

"Didn't you read the part about the _lucky girl_?"

He blinked again. _Is she-_ "You do know that you weren't the person with me… Right?"

"As far as the press knows, I definitely was."

The confused blonde blinked once more.

"Do you have something in your eyes?" Chloe asked, leaning towards him.

Falling back from her, Adrien shook his head. He looked more serious now. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you keeping blinking."

Adrien facepalmed. "No, not that. The part about the press and their knowledge about this event," he clarified.

"Oh!" Chloe smiled brightly, clasping her hands together. "Yeah, I contacted the press and told them all about how we're together and how I was the one with you last night~"

At that Adrien's jaw dropped. "W-what? Why would you do that?! That's not true!"

"What they don't know won't hurt them." Chloe moved over and hugged his arm.

 _In the article, though… That didn't say anything about Chloe. What else did she say that story was in? A magazine?_ Adrien tensed up slightly at that. "What magazine did you say that story was also in again?"

"The ones you model for," was Chloe's answer. "Want to go out and see one?"

"Yeah, let's do that," Adrien nodded quickly and instantly made his way to the front door with out another thought. There was a store that he knew sold the magazines that presented his modeling career in them. He was so set on getting to his destination that he nearly ran straight in front of a car. At least Chloe was there to stop him.

"You should be more careful." Chloe scolded him with a pouty face. "I'm not going to the hospital with you again. Too many sick people there."

 _I definitely don't want to hear that line from her._ Adrien huffed, only seeming to like it more when Marinette told him to be careful. It was more genuine. "You still didn't go to the hospital. You weren't there."

With the fling of a glass door, Adrien entered the store and went straight for the new release of his magazine to find his story. What he saw made him freeze. There was a picture of him and Chloe. Kissing. He opened his mouth to hammer down Chloe with questions but his voice was nowhere to be found. His face was slowly getting red from a mixture of frustration and cluelessness. The story just made the entire situation worse.

 _Sorry ladies, but it's official! The stunning and talented Adrien Agreste is off of the market! Last night after a fierce akuma attack, the model was rushed into the hospital as a single guy and left as a taken man. Who's the lucky lady? None other than the mayor's daughter, Chloe Burgouis! The two were sighted out in Paris, allowing the public eye to learn of their newly announced love. The two are agreeing to do photo shoots together for next week's edition so stay tuned!_

"Chloe!" The words finally came out. "You can't tell me that you had no part of this," Adrien said with a firm tone. _This is going to look REALLY bad to Marinette…_

The spoiled blonde only smiled in response to him as paparazzi came into the store, trying to question the two and take pictures of them. The smile answered it all for him. There was no innocence whatsoever in it. Chloe soaked in all of the glory and posed with her "new boyfriend" as Adrien did the opposite and tried to break away from everyone and everything. He needed to get away. He was getting a bad feeling in his stomach.

Chloe flew after him and grabbed him from behind. "Where are you going?"

"Away from lies! This isn't right." Adrien was visibly uncomfortable. Sure, she was his childhood friend, but he didn't like what she did. She was obstructing him from who he really wanted. He broke away and made a run for it, losing her at a turn. He sighed and quickly went home so he could try and contact Marinette. He had just now realized after all of that time that he had left it behind from when he tried getting it back from Plagg.

He walked through the front doors and stood in the presence of the great Gabriel Agreste. He stood atop the stairs with hands behind his back, back straight, and an overall dominant aura that hazed heavily around the entire entry way. He was standing there as if he was expecting Adrien to come running back in at any moment. And Adrien already had the main subject in mind that his father wanted to discuss.

"Adrien." Gabriel said plainly yet a bit cold and in a way that awaited a full explanation on what he was about to say.

"It's not what you think," Adrien said quickly. He wanted to get this over with so he could see if Marinette had found out.

Gabriel seemed offended by the answer he was given. "Are you calling me a liar?" he asked, making Adrien sink back a bit.

Best bet would be to ignore that and carry on with the explanation. "The stories aren't true! Well, the part about me being in the hospital was as well as there being someone with me-"

"I can't have the news about you revolving around some worthless relationship-"

"That doesn't exist," Adrien interrupted. Bad choice.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes down at Adrien for finishing his sentence. "Now you're lying to me?"

"It wasn't Chloe. The pictures aren't real-"

Now was Gabriel's turn to interfere in his sentence. "And you're going to say these pictures that I just received are fake too?" He had Natalie standing on the sidelines with a tablet in hand. She didn't look too pleased with holding it to where Adrien could see and swiped through the pictures that were previously taken of Chloe and Adrien at the store together. "These are all clearly you and her. Together I may add. You're soiling your name to this little game you have going on. For the rest of the day you're not to see anyone. That means you're to stay inside until it's time for your scheduled activities. Understood? Good. Now I have work to do."

Adrien stood there in complete silence while glaring at the ground as his father saw himself to his office. The blonde boy slowly ascended the stairs, passing by Natalie without even glancing up once. He went straight to his room and laid face first into his bed with a heavy sigh. He moved his hand and laid it on top of his phone. Picking up his face he clicked the home button to view the last message:

Marinette: _I guess it's whatever you want us to be? I mean, both people have to feel the same way to be something, right?_

"Good. Nothing else was said after that, so maybe she doesn't know." Adrien moved his other hand to the phone to reply back. Though, there was no way to casually answer the topic at hand.

 _Sorry for not replying earlier. I got caught up in some things. But about the previous thing…_ He couldn't figure what else to say so he sent it just like that.

5 minutes… 10 minutes… 15… 30… An hour passed with no response. This made Adrien get anxious.

He sent one more: _Marinette?_

5 more minutes later and the only thing that came was Natalie to tell Adrien that he had fencing to attend and to get ready.

With that, Adrien slide his phone into his pocket and stood up to get his bag and enter the car to be transported to his fencing class.

He couldn't have been any better at his game today. With his mind fueled with anger and annoyance curtesy of Chloe, he didn't have any trouble with dodging all attacks and landing hits on each and every round he entered. His opponents were worn out to the point where the instructor had Adrien take a small break.

During the break Adrien checked his phone once again. Still no response. _She definitely knows…_ That was the only logical conclusion, anyways. Maybe she would still show up to night patrol? She wouldn't let something like a bad report ruin that… Would she?

She did. Hours later Ladybug never showed to the usual meeting spot. No Ladybug, no danger, nothing. What was he to do? Only one thing left to do. See her at her house in person. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he landed on the desired one. He slid down and stepped onto her balcony. The curtains were parted just enough for him to be able to peek inside the room. No signs of any reason he couldn't come in. That being parents, or her undressing, something like that.

He tried the handle and sighed in relief when it moved along with his hand, letting him inside. He pushed the door open and stepped in. "Mari-"

Smack! A magazine hit him square in the face, stopping him in his tracks. The magazine fell down and landed at his feet, revealing an upset Marinette standing in front of him.

"Don't you Mari me!"

 _Marry?_ "I think marriage would be too sudden anyways," he said, not making the situation any better.

"You stupid cat! How dare you?!"

Chat stood up straight in surprise at her tone. It sounded so hurt.

"You can't just come waltzing in here like everything is just fine after all that you said and done!"

He finally looked down to see what had hit him. The magazine was from today. "They're lies. The picture in there isn't real. Chloe photoshopped it somehow. We're not together."

"Then who is it then?" Marinette asked, her voice sounding more hurt than before.

"Huh?"

"Who is it that you're dating? The one that you have now that let you push me away as someone not important anymore?"

Chat looked horribly confused "What are you talking about? I'm not dating anyone…"

"So you lied to me? Really Chat, just go home. I don't know why you came."

Chat shook his head quickly, "I never lied to you."

Marinette picked her phone up and showed him the messages. "You sent these."

Chat took the phone and scrolled through, shaking his head at every one. "I didn't send any of these. Plagg sent the first blunt one, but the rest… I don't know where they came from. I promise." He looked her dead in the eyes, trying to prove that he was honest with his word. He didn't even add a pun into the mix. "I didn't send those. They're not even on my phone."

"That just means you deleted them. Now go home." Marinette turned from him and went to the little couch in her room to sit on it with her knees hugged to her chest. "You've done enough."

Even the fake cat ears were dropping in sadness now. "I'm honest when I say that the picture and story in the magazine and paper was fake. You're the only lucky girl I want. I'll leave you alone for the rest of the night to think, but tomorrow please talk to me," he requested before gently setting her phone down beside her. "Good night, Princess. My one and only princess."

He saw that Marinette showed no sign of responding or even looking up at him to acknowledge him speaking to her so he left her in peace, closing the balcony door behind him and disappearing from sight.


	8. Cat Catches Closure

The lonely cat didn't sleep well at all that night. His head was clouded with the events that happened during the day. Why had Chloe done that? Was she really that jealous? She didn't even know it was Marinette who was there with him.

"Of course she did that," Adrien muttered into his pillow when he rolled onto his stomach, "she's Chloe after all. But, I guess it's my fault for letting her think she's free to just do that kind of stuff."

Yeah, Chloe was definitely a queen B. Not bee. But B. You get the point. Throwing herself at the poor boy in hopes of getting her feelings returned was one thing, but completely dominating a situation that she wasn't originally a part of to hurt the one truly involved was crossing the line. She was a mile across it with Adrien considering the one she hurt was Marinette, A.K.A. Ladybug, A.K.A. His lady. His lady, his princess, the only girl who had made his heart feel so conflicted for such a silly reason of being torn between two sides of the same girl. The point was, he needed to get rid of Chloe. If he doesn't do it now, future hopes of being close to Marinette will become dangerous.

"Even if that's done, how am I supposed to talk to Marinette at all? She didn't have any interest in hearing me out last night." Adrien rolled to his back and groaned, pressing his hands roughly against his face. "And those pictures from yesterday are probably out to the public today…" _What a horrible time to be famous._

The pictures from the paparazzi ambush could only add fuel to Marinette's burning fire, making it harder for her to listen to him. _She probably already seen them too. She definitely saw yesterday's before I could get to her…_

He sighed quietly, "Claws out, Plagg. Let's get some air."

He opened his eyes when he didn't feel any transformation come on. "Plagg?" He looked around to only find a note reading: _Helping myself to cheese so I don't have to hear you whine all morning._

"Plagg!" Adrien called out and hopped up to search for his glutton of a kwami. Not in the fridge. Not in the kitchen. Not in the house. Only one place left. _Well, this is going to be hard… Civillian Adrien Agreste walking into a bakery. Sure. I can do that, Plagg. No problem._

With a huff, the blonde slid out of the front doors and ran off before anyone in the house found him missing. _Stupid Plagg. Making me go through all of this trouble._ Oh, Plagg was definitely not going to hear the end of this one.

Adrien tried his best to pin out a plan with how he was going to get Plagg out of the bakery without any trouble. Of course, he didn't know if the bakery was even going to be open yet or even how Marinette's parents would react. Did she tell them that he's messed up somehow-not really- and hurt her feelings? That would be really awkward to walk in to angry parents. Not like he doesn't deal with that around the clock or anything.

The open sign was displayed in the front window of the bakery. Okay, that was a good sign. Both literally and figuratively. With this, the uneasy blonde slowly made his way inside and was greeted by Tom. He seemed happy and that was good. _I think I can mark off her saying anything to her parents now,_ he thought to himself then wondered if she even told them stuff like that in the first place.

"Good morning, ," Adrien said as politely as he could while holding a smile.

"Hello, Adrien. What can I do for you?"

 _Plan. Plan. Where's my plan? I'm a model, not a professional improviser._ He looked behind the big guy to notice a familiar tiny, black figure flying around in the kitchen area. _Oh great… Now I need some sort of distraction._ "Ah… I was… wondering if…" _Anything! Anything would do right now!_ "I could have a tour of the back where you make everything?" _Sure, that will work… Maybe._

"Oh~ Thinking about switching careers, are you? Sure! Come on, I'll show you what all there is." That's what he said. No questions. No second thoughts. He happily turned and headed into the back, cuing Adrien to follow.

Adrien sweat dropped slightly with the reaction but he gratefully followed. Now all he needed was to retrieve his selfish kwami and get out of there. He was so focused on seeking out the black cat that he didn't hear anything else that Tom had been saying. He didn't even think that he was looking in the same direction as him most of the time.

Plagg was definitely enjoying his little game of hide and seek, snickering quietly when the panicked blonde missed at grabbing him. Eventually though, Plagg fell into his hands and shoved away from sight as quickly as possible, some shelves knocked against in the process.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked, looking back at him with a hint of concern.

Adrien looked up to meet his eyes, seeming happy about the fact that he showed concern for his well being. _This is my chance!_ "Actually, Mr. Dupain, I think I'm starting to feel a little under the weather. I'd hate to contaminate anything on accident so I better be going!" He said with an off-centered smile and hurried out while calling, "thank you for the tour!"

"Come again!" Tom waved back and sighed slightly with a smile, "What a nice boy."

Adrien pinned his back against the brick of a corner wall, hiding from passerbys. "Why did you do that?" was the first question to erupt from the upset boy.

"Did you not read the note?" Plagg questioned smartly.

"I mean, why here? You shouldn't just steal their food, you glutton."

Plagg crossed his arms at him and shook his head. "If you don't go now then you'll never do it."

Adrien blinked at that, "Go now…? Go where?"

"Here. You're being too soft with this situation. I don't like helping you, but this thing just annoys me. So I'm giving you a push. If she won't listen to you as Chat Noir you're going to have to do it as your normal Adrien self."

 _Wait. Plagg is helping me? Helping? Me? Is he sick? He must be. I can't waltz back in there as myself and talk to Marinette. Can I?_

A heavy sigh came out as Adrien found himself walking back towards the bakery door and re-entering the building. "Mr. Dupain?"

"That was earlier than expected, but welcome back."

Again, a small amount of warmth found its way back through his body with the sound of the welcome. "Thank you. I actually came back to see Marinette." He quickly added afterwards, "If that's alright with you."

Tom studied him slightly before coming to the conclusion that he was too shy before to ask so he came back with enough confidence. "Of course that's alright with me, she's right upstairs in her room."

Adrien bowed his head to him as thanks and ascended the stairs. He stopped at the trap door to her room and took a deep breath before tapping on it.

The door opened up with the blue-eyed girl looking down at him with what seemed like a disappointed expression. "What are you doing here?"

Despite being as nervous as he was, he flashed an innocent smile to her. "Please allow me to come inside."

"Fine." Marinette stepped aside, allowing him passage into her room. The trap door was closed behind him and Marinette set herself back down on her bed. "So what is it?"

"There is not one ounce of an invalidation when I say that the pictures were fake and there is nothing between me and Chloe except for a growing distaste for her."

"Then where _did_ the pictures come from?" Marinette asked, still not seeming to sway her thoughts.

"It was photoshopped very well. I've never done anything like that with her. She was merely a childhood friend but now, not so much."

She took that the wrong way. "Not so much as in you're starting to like her or something?"

"No!" Adrien shook his head "No, no, the opposite. The complete opposite. Please, Marinette. She showed up to my house and started saying things like how as far as the press knows, she was the one with me at the hospital. She showed me the paper and it looked fairly normal but when she followed me to the store to see the magazine version, I couldn't believe it. She set it up, Marinette. I think the paparazzi ambush was on her too, so there might be even more drama coming up…"

"She was at your house?"

"Is that all you got from that?" Adrien looked desperate and defeated at this point. He was definitely trying his best to fix things.

"I guess not…" Marinette replied quietly, looking down and over to the side. "It does sound like something Chloe would do."

Tikki couldn't help it anymore. She believed in Adrien and everything he had said. "Come on, Marinette. He would never lie to you. This situation definitely spells out Chloe all over it. Believe him already," she practically begged.

Marinette looked up Adrien again before reaching for the green scarf he had given her and wrapped it around her neck. "Alright, I'll believe you and Tikki. I'm sorry for how I acted, especially smacking you in the face with that magazine…" she said, her voice quieting down near the end of her apology.

Tikki sighed in relief that her request broke through to Marinette.

Adrien smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "You definitely have an arm on you, but it's alright, Princess."

A faint pink streak decorated Marinette's face at the sound of that particular word. It was definitely a different feeling hearing it now. "What are you going to do about Chloe, though?"

"I'm working on getting rid of her. She's changed too much for the worse. I don't think there's any hope in helping her unless she fully realizes what she's done. So don't worry. Just please remember if you see anything sketchy in some form of news, it's just her manipulating everything."

"I guess for now then people aren't going to know who it really was there with you." For whatever reason, Marinette was kind of on the depressed side about that. It wasn't to be prideful or anything, more that she thought it would show that Chloe wasn't a part of it, for one thing. And another was just to be able to put herself at rest. It would definitely show that she wasn't just some clumsy commoner, but a "heroine" without it being under her alter persona title.

Adrien sat down on the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms, gently hugging her. " _We_ know. Everyone else can be late with the news. And once they know that, Chloe will be exposed."

Marinette let herself slowly lean into him and nodded. At last she felt completely at ease with him. After blowing up at him, she couldn't find any room to be a stuttering fool anymore. It was like Ladybug's confidence was locked in with her now. All of the nervousness emptied to be filled with complete confidence. Well, at least until her friends find out. That will definitely be a different story. "I'm sorry for being so mad. I just thought that you actually caved into Chloe's advances for awhile. But that was silly of me, knowing how much Chat Noir has flirted with me," she giggled slightly, making Adrien smile and close his arms around her a little more.

"At least you didn't get akumatized or anything. I wouldn't know how to get out of that one. This cat doesn't do well alone."

"Speaking of akuma. Maybe Hawk Moth is taking a break after that whole encounter we've had," Marinette thought.

"That would be a good thing for us. Hopefully I won't find him in my house again. In the meantime, we should still patrol around just to make sure."

Shall we go now?"

Adrien shot her a small smirk and remarked with a sly "With purrleasure~"

Marinette pushed him away playfully and rolled her eyes. "I hope I don't have to deal with those puns of yours even more now."

"My apawlagies, Purrincess~ I'm mewly kitten around."

"Stop it already!" Marinette laughed and stood up, pulling a scarf from her closet and slinging it around the boy with a million and one pun's neck and tugged on the ends of it. "You'll be patrolling by yourself if you keep it up."

"You know you love me," Adrien smiled and followed her motion until he was standing.

"I do." Marinette fixed the scarf better around his neck and took him down. "I'll be back later!" she called to her parents.

Sabine watched the two with adoration, happy to see them together. Yes, she definitely shipped them. "I'll have a snack ready for you two when you return!"

"Thanks maman!" Marinette responded before heading out with Adrien at her side. "Ready to go to work?"

"I'll save you from another cat pun this time," Adrien nodded while looking at her from the side.

"You're too kind." Marinette laughed and led him to a spot where they were free to transform.

Finally they were able to transform together. The feeling of not having to do it in secrecy was relieving for both members of the duo. Now the next step was to rid the secrecy of their established relationship. But for now, they stayed focus on keeping Paris safe from evil-doers. Fanatics such as Alya could find out later. Preferably after Winter break.


	9. Cat Catches Chaos

Sneaking out of the hours early that morning was easy. Going back in late that night, well that was easy too, it just wasn't pleasant. One might think that he would have known the consequence of coming back after hours and hours and hours. One step through the door, the other didn't even get a chance to pass through the door frame before Adrien tried to track back outside.

"Stay. Inside…"

Adrien bit the inside of his cheek and shut his eyes before taking a breath and closing the door behind him. "Yes, Father?" He asked in such a voice that made him sound so innocent and pure.

"Care to explain your disappearance? You missed many important appointments."

 _Many important appointments as in events to make profit off of me, then sure…_ Adrien averted his eyes sideways in distaste of the thoughts confining his mind. "I'm sure that the excuse I have won't ease this situation," he sighed out honestly.

"Your absence has caused a great disappointment upon me. For the rest of the break you're not permitted to leave this household unless you're being escorted to an appointment. While in this house you will be watched closely by Nathalie and will have no contact with anyone."

Adrien immediately lifted his eyes up to the demanding father. "B-" he couldn't even get a vowel out before his father interrupted him once more.

"Leave your phone here and go to your room."

The defeated blonde bowed his head in silence and reluctantly did exactly as he was told. Without looking at his father or even Nathalie who was following him, he walked into his room and face planted himself on the bed. _What's with this? Why must I be punished for trying to live even a little normally? And now…_ he paused to glance over at the guard dog of a Nathalie. At least she didn't look like she was enjoying watching over him. One might say she even looked a bit saddened by this chore. _There's no way I'll be able to go out on patrol or see either side of Marinette. Not to mention Ladybug even being able to see me._

"How many days of house arrest do I have to go through before school starts back?" Adrien murmured a question directed at his guard.

"Only two," she answered. _Only_ two. Like that helped anything.

"Wake me up when I'm needed, then." Adrien moved his arms up to his pillow and wrapped them around it as he set his face down comfortably in it.

* * *

Surely enough Nathalie was still on guard when the last morning of house arrest came. "You have a photo shoot in two hours. Get prepared." She couldn't help but to feel awfully bad for the boy and for herself having to watch him so closely.

"I'll go take a shower then," Adrien sighed out as his feet took him to the bathroom. He stepped onto the cold tile and shivered slightly at the touch. "At least in here I can be alone."

"Have you forgotten about me?" Plagg asked, now coming out of hiding.

"Well, almost alone. Sorry, Plagg. You're going to have to fend for yourself for awhile," he apologized.

The glutton moaned loudly, "Are you kidding me?!"

Adrien tossed his discarded shirt over to kwami. "There's nothing I can do," he said and kicked away the rest of his clothes before getting into the shower.

Plagg moved to avoid being hit by the shirt and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Fine. I'll go feed myself." A moment later he left the model alone to shower.

Later Adrien found a positive thing about being under house arrest with the prohibition of communicating with friends; Chloe was forced out of the studio with little effort from himself. The gorilla took care of that for him. With that much he managed to get through the photo shoot with ease.

His poses and energy was enough to satisfy the photographer, making things a lot easier on everyone. It was only until commotion sounded from outside that set the mood off. An akuma attack was on the horizon, making people flee, seeking shelter from the flying debris of buildings and other structures.

Adrien looked down when he felt Plagg's movement from inside his shirt. He knew he had to get outside, but how? Before he could even come up with a plan to break away, the situation only got worse. Gorilla had grabbed him and with such speed stuck him in the car and was already on the move. Adrien blinked, panicking now. _I need to get out there. Somehow._

But alas, his efforts of escaping were merely brushed aside and he was stuck inside the mansion with no way out. He ran to the window and looked out it, able to see the city degrading to rubble. He looked back again and saw his guards' eyes on him like hawks. He pressed his forehead against the windowpane and closed his eyes with a sigh. _Forgive me, my lady._

* * *

"Where is that cat?!" Ladybug asked aloud as if she were talking to someone. She was focused on dodging blows from all directions as she was waiting on her favorite hero to come to her aid. Knowing who he really was now, she really couldn't picture him just not showing up. Not like that.

Up against an entire demolition party and the odds were not going in her favor. This was definitely one of the most dangerous akuma attacks yet. "If Chat was here he could simply reduce one of those machines by one. That would be a great help."

The biggest threat of all was the wrecking ball that swung around like an out of control pendulum, wrecking destruction everywhere. Dodging that was definitely a lot harder than a game of dodgeball. It followed her every move like it was locked on her tight.

"This is not good!" Ladybug shouted and landed harshly on the road. Even worse, the weight of the demolition machines caused the road to crack. The spotted heroine looked down at her feet then swung her yoyo out so she could swing herself to safety. Instead of latching onto a stationary object, the yoyo ricocheted off of the massive wrecking ball and left Ladybug to the clasp of the sinkhole that formed, sending her as well as the demolition party down into its depths.

 _Please let Chat save me…_ Was Ladybug's thought but instead the lucky charm chant came out subconsciously. The impact was a lot softer than expected. The lucky charm proved to save Ladybug by placing a mattress under her. Of course though, the mattress couldn't protect her from the rubble that fell on top of her. Ladybug groaned quietly and pressed a hand against her forehead. She was definitely bleeding. She could tell that even with her hand being gloved.

Looking to the side of her, she noticed that whatever the akuma was in, it was now broken and allowed the purple and black butterfly to flitter away. Ladybug quickly grabbed her yoyo and captured the vile creature, purifying it, then releasing it once more.

The injured heroine then slowly got to her feet and moved the small mattress up before calling out "Lucky charm!" Ladybug was moved to the now secured road and watched as her surroundings fixed itself with the help of her ladybug magic. Her injuries though, well they were still there.

"That cat never showed…" Ladybug muttered to herself as she fled the scene before anyone would approach her. "The time I needed his help the most and he didn't save me like he had always done." There was a slight limp in her walk as she made her way into a small alley that was away from wandering eyes. "I don't need that stupid cat anymore," she spat. "I saved the day like always."

It was clear now that she didn't have control over her own thoughts anymore. They didn't even belong to her anymore. Her suit had darkened greatly and a faint pink emblem shielded her face.

" _Let down by someone who dares call himself your partner. What a misfortunate turn of events. Someone like that doesn't deserve to occupy such a responsibility. Shall we take him out together? All we need is one thing."_

A devious grin spread across the akumatized Ladybug's face. "Of course, Hawk Moth. It would be my honor to put that stray in his place."

" _Good. Snatch the miraculous right off of him and bring it back to me, Miss Fortune."_

* * *

 **Whoops! Left you on a cliffhanger. Sorry for this chapter being so short (^_^;)**


	10. Cat Catches Clues

**Hooray for 10 chapters! Thank you so much for all of the support~ （＾ω＾）**

* * *

Opposed to the rest of his classmates who felt Monday came far too quickly, Adrien thought the days drug on before it could finally arrive. Now that school was back in session, he was no longer under house arrest, he could see his friends, and to top it all off, he was going to be able to see Marinette for the first time in a while. Hopefully she wouldn't be too hard on him for getting himself in trouble and being unable to make the patrols.

The anxious blonde sat up in his bed and stretched his arms over his head with a long and drawn out yawn. Looking around his room, he noticed that Nathalie was no longer on duty as well as another character missing from the scene. It was far too quiet with no whining or begging coming from Plagg about requests of cheese. In his place was another "gone fishing" note stating he was once again helping himself to cheese.

Adrien sighed, "Doesn't he know I can't go retrieve him at this time?" He shook his head at the thought of his troubling kwami breaking and entering as well as stealing cheese from his innocent…girlfriend? _I guess we never did officially say that we were a thing... I'll figure it out today._ With that thought in mind he jumped out of bed to get ready for the school day that awaited, taking with him the scarf that Marinette had given him.

The car was waiting for him just as his usual breakfast was. He nearly choked on his food in rush and excitement to get out of the door and into the car. Nathalie gave him a suspicious side glance but remained silent, not bothering to pry into this sudden burst of happiness and energy. She just went with the assumption that it was because he no longer had to be watched or locked inside the house.

The car pulled to a stop in front of the school before the gorilla got out to open Adrien's door for him. He hopped out of the car and looked around the entrance. No sign of Marinette. _There's no akuma attack so it can't be she's late from that. Maybe she's inside._ He brushed away the thought of her having to deal with Plagg all by herself and him being a reason that she's late.

Adrien made his way up the steps and through the school doors before entering the classroom. Marinette wasn't there either. Beside her empty seat sat Alya who was fiercely tapping away at her phone's screen, seeming not to hear Nino's calling from in front of her. Eventually she set her phone down with a displeased "Ugh!" and crossed her arms.

"Alyaaaaaa!" Nino called again, this time getting her attention.

"Sorry, it's just that girl hasn't been responding to me at all since yesterday. And she's not at school today."

At that, Adrien took his own phone out and scrolled through it. No messages from her either. Maybe if Plagg would come back from his cheese high he could tell him what was up. "Did you stop by her house?"

Alya shook her head "I was tied down with watching my siblings, so I couldn't," she said then looked down at her phone when it started buzzing in an alert.

"Is that her?" Nino asked, trying to peek at the screen before it was up in Alya's hands.

"Close…" Alya's voice was softer this time, "It was her mom. She said that Marinette is missing."

Adrien froze as if he had been turned to ice. His heart pounded from inside of him with the horrible anxiety and fright that suffocated it. He was about to speak when a sudden, annoying laughter sounded from behind him.

"Ha! She probably ran away! Who cares, though? I hope she doesn't come back," Chloe laughed hysterically but was silenced almost immediately by the now furious blonde boy.

"So help me, Chloe, if you had anything to do with this." Adrien had turned to face her, now dangerously close.

Usually, Chloe would like how close he was to her, but right now she felt all of the color drain from her face. "A-adrikins… You know I would neve-"

"Yes you would. You went so far as to lie to the reporters and photoshop a picture of me, didn't you? Just to make yourself seem important in what happened?"

Now everyone in the class was staring at the two. Alya especially observed this ordeal very closely, trying to figure out what would happen next. The truth about the news and magazine reports was out. Chloe was once again at fault for using her power to make herself look good. With everyone eyeing her down with such disapproving looks, she had to come up with some excuse to save her arse.

Chloe bit the corner of her lip as she thought. _Maybe he doesn't want people to know who it really was? Maybe I can get him there._ "Of course it was me that was there," she lied, glancing around at everyone who still bore untrusting eyes. "If it wasn't me then who was it?"

Adrien fell silent, causing Chloe to smirk with confidence. "That's what I thou-"

"Marinette."

Gasps were heard from around the room, draining the confidence out of Chloe. Murmurs started to sound between people as they questioned if the other knew about that and could they believe it.

"Mari….nette…?" Chloe repeated in a less audible voice, trying to wrap her head around things. "Her?!" In all honesty, she wasn't expecting it to be Marinette. _How could my Adrikins, MY ADRIKINS, have been with her? She's… She's nothing!_

Despite as flustered as Chloe was, Alya seemed to take in the most shock. "It was Marinette the entire time? What exactly have you two been doing over the break?" She stopped suddenly and gave off a stern look darted right at Adrien. "Are you why she's missing?"

Adrien blinked at that and shook his head. "No, no. I didn't do or say anything bad to her," he promised solemnly. _Even I don't know what happened to her. And Plagg hasn't come back to tell me anything. Where is he, anyways?_

"Everyone take your seats!" called out in an instructive voice as she entered the room. "I'm aware that will not be joining us today, but everyone else has a lot of work to do."

Most of many groaned in response before reluctantly took their seats. The conversation was just getting interesting when their teacher interrupted and they wanted to get back to the topic that was at hand. Still though, no one was surprised with the truth about Chloe. Chloe was the only one trying to forget about what just happened. Well, her and her sidekick.

Adrien was in no place to concentrate through out the entire school day. To make matters worse, he still didn't have Plagg for him to transform, excuse himself from class, and go search for Marinette. _Where are you, Marinette?_ He sighed deeply to himself. He had no appetite at lunch and spent the entire period staring outside in hopes of seeing his princess miraculously walk by. _I'm still not that lucky for something like that to happen._

"…rien. Adrien."

Adrien snapped out of of his trance and looked over to the source of who was calling his name. "Huh?"

Nino crossed his arms. "Geez… No one can hear me today."

"S-sorry…"Adrien sweatdropped slightly and rubbed the back of his head.

Nino shook his head at his dead friend. "Anyways. I was trying to tell you that Alya and I are going to Marinette's house to talk to her parents if you want to come."

"Sure," Adrien nodded "I don't have any place to be after school so I can come."

Alya leaned back at bit in her seat and studied him with an interested expression. "So tell me already, what happened between you and Marinette, who has always proved to never really be capable of getting a word out with you?" She was definitely not leaving without an answer from him, let alone the honest one.

 _You know, we're just two partners who turned out to like the other persona of the other and finally confessed once we figured out who each other was._ Adrien thought to himself, finding an amount of amusement in that, thinking back on the events. He didn't realize the pleased expression on his face until Alya and Nino both pointed it out.

"Oh~? You can't say nothing happened, dude."

"And yet Marinette didn't tell me that much."

Adrien's expression went from pleased to embarrassed in a split second. "W-wait a second!" He blurted out quickly but was interrupted again.

"Have you two kissed yet?"

 _Well, that one time she said she kissed me as Ladybug but I still don't remember it for the life of me!_ "No! I don't- we aren't- I'm not even sure what we officially are!" Talk about not being able to conjure up an explanation. "I invited her over one day right when break started and we had a good time," _We also go on patrols everyday, well, when I'm not locked inside._ "And we hung out two days ago, but it wasn't like we went on any dates or anything."

Alya burst out in laughter, "You are really red in the face right now! Who would have known you of all people could get like this?"

"I didn't even think you could act like that over Marinette. When did you start liking her?" Nino asked, leaning in as he waited for an answer.

 _Just about the first time I ever saw Ladybug…_ Adrien thought but answered with, "I've always liked her" _But still had to stay loyal to my lady._

Alya and Nino leaned in together, closely inspecting the red blonde. "Oh hey, isn't that Marinette's?" Alya pointed to the scarf around his neck.

Adrien's eyes moved down to meet the scarf and nodded, "She gave it to me the last time we were together."

Alya blinked twice and sat up straight. She crossed her arms in thought. "That girl has a lot of explaining to do once we find her…" Her best friend nonchalantly giving her biggest crush a scarf? That definitely was a major step for the shy bluenette. Now all she could think about was how the timid girl acted around the gorgeous blonde nowadays.

The rest of the day drug on a slowly as possible. Once the bell rang in dismissal, students rushed out of the doors to head home. Alya, Nino, and Adrien all went out together and got into his awaiting ride in which agreed to transport them to the bakery. Chloe folded her arms over her chest while pouting at the sight of the trio going off together and leaving her out of it. She didn't care about being with Alya and Nino, though. No, she just wanted to be in the same car as Adrien. "Hmph! Come on, Sabrina," the prissy blonde snorted and walked in the opposite direction of the car's motion.

The car came to a stop in front of the closed bakery. The driver let the three out of the backseat and closed the door behind them.

"We'll go in through the house entrance," Alya said as she took lead. She went around to the side of the building and knocked on the door. Just a moment later Tom greeted the kids and welcomed them inside, lacking the usual pep in his step. Sabine was sitting on the couch in a sad manner.

"Hi, kids," she managed to say with a small smile.

The trio worked their way over, exchanging their hellos and taking a seat in the living room.

"It's been two days now that we haven't seen her. She left just a few hours past noon the day she went missing and just didn't come back. I can't say she ran away. She never said that there was anything wrong and she seemed so happy," Sabine said and looked towards Adrien with her last remark, getting a small blush from him in response.

"That girl is pretty clumsy. She could have gotten lost somewhere," Alya said.

 _She's been all over Paris. So that's not a possibility._ Adrien thought to himself

"What was she doing when she left?" Nino questioned, thinking maybe that would give them some clues.

"Nothing in particular. She just said that she would be back lat-er," Sabine's voice cracked at the end, holding back the tears.

Alya jumped up. "Come on! We're going to go look for her! Nino and I will take north of here and you two will take south," she said, pointing to Tom and Sabine. She then looked to Adrien, "You'll stay here for if she does happen to come back."

"Is that fine with you?" Tom asked Adrien, completely fine with him staying behind.

"Certainly." Adrien nodded. "I'll call if she does."

"We'll meet up back here in an hour!" Alya called, already dragging Nino out of the door by his wrist. She was determined with finding her best friend.

Tom gave Adrien a small nod before taking his wife out as well and heading off, the door closing behind them.

Once everyone was out of the house, Adrien did a little search of his own. Only he needed to find Plagg. If he could just find him, he could turn into Chat Noir and really look for his missing princess. He firstly went to the bakery and scoured through each part.

"Plagg? Plagg? Where are you hiding?" Adrien looked high and low but couldn't find the little black cat. He did notice that the cheese supply wasn't low. "Did he not come here? No, he must have. He wouldn't be by himself at my house," he decided.

At this point he must have searched the entire house. He sat defeated on Marinette's desk chair as that room was the last he looked in. "Come on Plagg, there's no one except for me here. Come out already. I need y-"

"Oh? There isn't, is there?"

 _Since when did Plagg get such a feminine- wait a minute…_

Slowly looking over, Adrien's jaw dropped to the floor when his eyes landed on the figure standing in front of the balcony doors. He blinked and rubbed his eyes before looking once more, not believing what stood before him. It was Ladybug. Well, almost. Her uniform was definitely a lot darker and there was a menacing look on her face. And inside her hand? Let's just say Adrien didn't have to wonder about where Plagg ran off to.

"Ladybug?!"

Akumatized Ladybug tightened her fist in annoyance, slightly suffocating the poor black cat kwami in the process. "Don't act so familiar with me, you worthless boy. It's Miss Fortune to you." Her words had venom dripping from each letter.

Adrien sat frozen in the desk chair, every muscle in his body paralyzed with fear. Can you say Adrien's worst nightmare? Here was his lady, his princess, his everything, akumatized and holding his kwami captive in her hand. He had always told himself that he didn't do well as Chat Noir on his own, let alone be Adrien with Ladybug against him.

 _I need Plagg out of her hand if I want even a chance at helping her. But even then, with Hawk Moth in control of her, I can't just transform in front of her or even say anything about me being Chat Noir. Thanks a lot, Plagg… You went and gotten yourself captured the day that I really need you._

Adrien tried to think long and hard with the little time he had. Yet, nothing came to mind. How he was going to get out of this one, he had no clue.

* * *

 **Don't hate me (^_^;)**


	11. Cat Catches Concern

**Very sorry for the hiatus! Life got tough for me. But, please do enjoy this chapter. I promise to do better with the next one.**

* * *

"Just calm down a little bit." Adrien was visibly nervous as he slowly rose up from the chair. "You really shouldn't take cats hostage… Or squish them."

Instead of a verbal response, Miss Fortune, as she was called, sent her yoyo out, aiming straight for him. Adrien pushed the chair out in front of him so the yoyo would get tangled around it and delay her movements. He moved from beside it and tried to snatch Plagg out of Miss Fortune's hands. Right before his hand reached hers, he felt a strong kick to his stomach, sending him back. He fell against the wall and recoiled, holding a hand to his stomach.

 _That's some kick she's got…_ Adrien thought to himself. He looked up to see the yoyo get freed from the chair and shoot at him again. He grabbed the string with his hands and held tightly onto it while he yanked it back towards him. Miss Fortune fell against him with a thud. Adrien seized this moment to steal Plagg from her loosened fist and broke into a run.

 _I just need to make it downstairs for a few seconds._ The blonde jumped down the trap door and made his way to the end of the house. He looked once behind him before he allowed himself to transform. He hid behind a wall and peeked around the corner in time to see Miss Fortune make her way into the same room as him.

"Stop your hiding, pathetic partner," she cooed to him. "Have you finally realized how useless you are?" Chat's hand tightened around the corner of the wall. He pushed himself in front of her with narrowed eyes. "You know very well that this isn't you, Ladyb-"

"I told you; it's _Miss Fortune_ to you! You stupid cat. You can't even remember the little things in life. Much less the important things."

Chat still didn't understand. He didn't get why she was akumatized. "Why are you like this? What made you so upset that you let Hawk Moth get ahold of you?"

"You." The word made him freeze faster than dry ice. His eyes widened in disbelief. "Me..? What have I done? I didn't think I had hurt yo-"

"You weren't there. You let me get hurt. You forgot all about doing your job so I had to do it all for you. And what did I get as a reward? Well, I got all of this power for one thing. As for you, you're no longer needed. You're now just Paris' stray."

He had to admit, those words hurt, but he knew they couldn't be true. Or at least he hoped not. "You know I strive to protect you, my lady. I was unable to help you in the last akuma attack and I'm dreadfully sorry for that. It kills me that you got hurt and I couldn't help prevent it."

"If it kills you so much, then you should be dead! Don't worry, I'll get rid of all of those 9 lives of yours," Miss Fortune grinned and lunged at him at top speed. He didn't have any time to move out of the way before she came crashing down on him.

Chat felt the air escape from his lungs as he gasped from the weight that hit him. "Y-You don't want to do this, Ladybug…" Chat breathed out and closed his hands over hers, as if he could make the real Ladybug peek out just a little bit.

Alas, nothing as he wanted resulted from that. Instead, she jolted her hands to his ring hand, trying to remove his miraculous. It slid forward just a little before Chat clenched his hand closed. "Give it to me!" Miss Fortune practically growled as she pulled at his hand in attempt to open it.

Chat pulled his leg back and sent it into her to make her fly off of him. She flipped back and landed on her feet, getting her yoyo ready. That was when he realized that was the item that was akumatized. Before he could even activate his cataclysm, the yoyo had already bound him at the wrists. She pulled the string towards herself to fling him forward, making him trip over his own feet and hit his chin against the floor.

"You're such a pathetic cat…" Miss Fortune said as she stepped on top of him to keep him down. "You should have been put down a long time ago." Chat winced in sync with a cracking sound that came from his back. And another from his shoulder area. He really didn't want to move anymore.

He tried reaching for the main part of the yoyo but couldn't bend his wrists to quite get it. "I know you don't mean those things, m'lady, so don't worry about apologies when this is all over." He forced himself to flip over and loosen the bindings from his wrist enough so where he could activate cataclysm. He sent his hand down on the yoyo, watching it reduce to ash and release the dark colored butterfly.

Miss Fortune fell to her butt and held a hand against her forehead. "Huh…? Chat, why are you laying on the floor?" She had gone back to her normal, Ladybug, self at this point with no clue on what happened.

"The akuma! Purify it before it multiplies again!" Chat exclaimed quickly, staying put on his back.

Ladybug looked at the ground and saw the remains of her yoyo. She held her hand up in the air and called out for her lucky charm, obtaining a second yoyo. Without any further ado she captured the akuma with the second yoyo, released it, and threw the lucky item into the air for things to go back to normal. Well, except for Chat's injuries, once again.

With a final beep of Chat's ring and Ladybug's earrings, the two were transformed back to normal. Tikki fell unconscious in Marinette's hands, completely drained of her energy. "What happened?" She asked the blonde, who was still laying on the floor.

"You were akumatized because of me. I'm really sorry. I wasn't able to jump to your aid." He really did feel guilty for causing such a thing, but still he had no control over it.

Marinette took a moment to remember the events that took place. Her eyes widened in remembrance. "Did I… Say anything bad while I was akumatized?" Her voice sounded like she was expecting bad news.

But all that came in response was a small smile that tried to reassure her. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean any of it. I'm still your favorite cat, right?"

Marinette's expression softened. She crawled over to Adrien and helped him sit upright. She moved her arms around his neck to hug him gently. "You're more than just my favorite _cat_."

Adrien let out a quiet sound of relief and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist, feeling at ease now. "I'm glad you're back to normal. I couldn't handle you not being you for very much longer."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let it get me so angry. It was really dumb of me to think you were off playing hooky or something."

Adrien rubbed the bridge of his nose against her neck before pulling up his face to look at her. "I was under house arrest for being absent when needed. I really did try to get out but all eyes were on me. But don't worry now. It's all over. We should call your parents. They're worried sick about you."

Marinette nodded and unwound her arms from his neck to dig her phone out from her pocket. She called her mother's cell while Adrien texted Nino for him to bring Alya back. The call was very short and mostly filled with uncomprehending outbursts of sobbing and tears of joy that Marinette was back home safely.

Within ten minutes everyone was inside, hugging Marinette and telling her all about how they missed her. As for the explanation of her disappearance, an elaborate story about how she got caught up in the last akuma attack and lost her way did just the trick. As a celebration, Tom and Sabine broke out bakery desserts and served them around.

As things died down, Marinette's friends started bidding their farewells and promised to see her at school. Adrien was the last to go. He stood just outside the front door with Marinette, stealing just a few more seconds with her before he had to return home. He didn't want a repeat of house arrest and the events that followed.

"I hate to leave right now, but I'll see you tonight." Adrien smiled softly to her, gently taking her hands in his.

"Sounds like a date," Marinette giggled, being awarded with a slight blush spread across the flustered blonde's face in return.

Adrien shook it off and raised her hands up to his mouth for him to kiss. "Until then, purrincess."


	12. Cat Catches Conformation

A new day arose for the dark-haired Marinette as her parents called her down for breakfast. "I'll be right down!" Marinette yawned a response to her parents before sitting up and looking to her kwami. "How are you feeling, Tikki?"

"Much better now that we've gotten to rest for a full night. That was nice of Chat Noir to take over patrol for us," Tikki said as she floated up to Marinette's eye level, stretching herself out.

"We'll have to make up for that later on. For now, let's get some breakfast."

Marinette rolled herself out of bed and waited until Tikki was hidden under her pajamas to descend the trap door and head to the kitchen. Her parents had a spread of pancakes, eggs, and bacon ready for her. Tom was already seated at the table with a newspaper in hand. He lowered it down onto the table when Marinette walked in and smiled to her. "Good morning, sweetie. Sleep well?"

Marinette went over to give him a hug around the neck and a kiss on the cheek. "I feel refreshed," she replied with a nod before planting herself in the empty chair beside him.

Sabine fixed a plate for everyone, setting each down before their seat. "Eat up, Marinette. You have school to get through." She planted a delicate kiss down on top of Marinette's head as she put her plate down.

"Thanks, Maman."

The three- or rather, four- of them are together, Marinette slyly giving Tikki bits of her breakfast without either parent noticing. Once her plate was cleared, Marinette stood up and gave Tom and Sabine both a quick kiss before dismissing herself to finish getting ready for school. "See you later!"

Both waved and smiled back to her from the kitchen table. "Have a good day," they said in unison.

Marinette threw her clothes on and fixed her hair, ready to see Adrien once more. Tikki giggled at her eagerness to get to school on time. "Someone on your mind, Marinette?"

Blush made its way to Marinette's face at the thought of being with Adrien at school. "W-well, yeah… It's hard to not be excited."

"Excited to be an official thing?" Tikki clarified.

The dark-haired girl stood stiffly straight at that. "A-ah, I guess so? We never did actually set anything in stone, did we?" She started to laugh nervously, her excitement turning into anxiety.

"Don't worry about a thing, Marinette. Everything will be great!" The little, red kwami promised with a hand raised into the air.

Marinette poked Tikki's hand with her finger and gave a slight smile, though still nervous. "Alright. Let's do this then!" She grabbed her bag and slung her clutch over her shoulder before running outside, not ready for the crisp, cool air that awaited her. "O-on second thought I should have gotten a scarf t-too," she remarked through a shudder and hurried back inside long enough to wrap a scarf around her. Adrien's scarf, to be exact.

Marinette inhaled Adrien's scent from the scarf's position around the bottom half of her face and calmed down to quite an extent. She giggled quietly to herself at the thought of how such a thing worked like that, catching the attention of Tikki.

"Wow, Marinette. You went from anxious to giddy kind of fast."

A simple hum came out for a response as the day dreaming girl just stared at and felt over the scarf as she walked to school. Images of her moments with Adrien as well as his feline hero side swirled around in her head made her lose focus even more on where she was going.

Little did she know she was walking straight into incoming traffic. A loud horn sounded before Marinette snapped out of her trance. She moved her head to see what was coming but all she could see was the concrete that she was laying on. _Huh…?_ She looked up when she felt something tickle her nose.

Familiar blonde hair hanging down in her face that glowed scarlet red in a matter of a microsecond. "A-Adrien?!"

The model had spotted her before she walked out onto the road. He dropped everything without a second thought and pushed her out of the way, landing straight on top of her. He hovered above her so he could check her over. "Are you alright? You nearly got hit by that car." Concern was growing in his voice by the second. "I tried not to land on you too rough."

Marinette shook her head quickly, making herself dizzy. "N-no, I-uh, I mean I-I'm fine. Honestl-" she couldn't finish her sentence before a wince slipped out, making Adrien even more worried for her. "I j-just- my back kinda hurts- b-but thank you for landing- I mean saving me!"

Adrien made his way up to his feet and gently taking Marinette's hands in his to bring her up. He moved his arms around her back to support it, her chest against his. "I'm glad I could save you from being hit," he nearly whispered to her.

The moment was cut off when some screams sounded behind them on the other side of the road they were previously on. The two looked back to see the previous car had swerved out of Marinette's path and took Nathaniel for a victim instead. People crowded all around, including the car driver, who was frantically trying to apologize for this accident and calling for an ambulance.

Marinette stood shocked, unable to take her eyes off of the bloody scene. Slowly but surely, she made her way to scene as well. A heavy feeling plummeted in her stomach, making her feel queasy. She moved a hand to her mouth, muffling any sounds that tried to rise out.

Paramedics rushed out within minutes and got Nathaniel onto a gurney. "Oh my god…" Marinette finally said as she watched the red head depart from the pavement. Though unconscious, she could still tell that he was in a lot of pain. It didn't take a genius to point that out. It wasn't until the artist was lifted into the ambulance and taken away that someone finally spoke up.

"Nice going, super clutz." This belong to Chloe who was standing there with crossed arms and an expression that made Marinette feel even worse. "Because of you, Michael got hurt," she said, forgetting Nathaniel's name.

"Shut up, Chloe," Adrien retorted, standing by Marinette now. "His name is Nathaniel, by the way. And Marinette was just dazed out and didn't realize where she was is all. Don't blame her."

"I-I didn't mean for this to happen… I'm sorry…" Marinette pressed a palm against the corner of her eye, stopping a tear from rolling down. She felt miserable now. No need for Chloe to rub salt in the wound. "I know it's my fault. I should have seen where I was going- I'm sorry- I'm going to go clean the cut on my elbow off," she dismissed herself into the school building before anything else could be said or done.

Alya glared at Chloe before racing after her distressed friend into the girl's bathroom.

"Hmph! Serves her right!" Chloe said and was immediately shot down by Adrien once again.

"Seriously, Chloe. It was an accident. Don't make her feel even worse than she already does." Adrien promptly picked his bag up and pulled Nino inside with him to get away from the difficult drama queen.

Meanwhile, Alya was trying to calm her best friend down in the bathroom. "Come on, girl. You didn't hit him with that car. It could have been anyone."

"I was the one that caused it though!" She cried out through a sob. "If I had seen where I was going, he wouldn't have been hit."

Alya wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders and pulled her in close. "It's alright. Things happen. Plus, you can go apologize to Nath yourself after school."

Marinette sniffled and wiped the back of her wrists against her eyes to move the tears out of her vision. "I-I suppose you're right…"

"Of course I am! And you can even make him something to show that you mean it!"

A slight nod was given as a response. "Thanks, Alya, for being there for me."

The girl with glasses shook her head at her friend. "Don't thank me. Adrien is the one that pushed you out of the way. I only gave you a suggestion," she said with a quick wink.

Surely enough, the sly Alya found a way to avert the situation to exactly as she wanted. She brought Marinette even closer to her and whispered in her ear as if she didn't want anyone to be able to eavesdrop. "So what's the situation with you and Prince Charming?"

"I-Uh…We-He…Ah…." Instead of crying, a new emotion took over and went by the name of panic. _Do I say we're together? It's still not official, is it? And how do I even explain myself? She's going to find out sooner or later._

The answer was sooner than later. "Did you two hook up over the break when you went over? Maybe he went to the bakery to see you often? I need to know, girl!" Alya was getting more excited by the minute and she wasn't taking silence and incoherent babbling for an answer.

"A-actually..."

"Yes? What is it?"

"W-well… I m-mean… I guess… you could say that it's s-soon...?"

Alya's eyes widened at this. "So wait a second, girl. Are you trying to say that the item of you two is soon to be off of the market?"

Marinette could barely get "yes" put before Alya started to squeal and hop up and down. "I'm so proud of you, girl! How did it happen? Tell me everything!"

Marinette rubbed the back of her neck nervously, trying to come up with some story of explanation. "I guess you could say going to his house helped out to an extent… After that he stopped by the bakery and we went on a walk once in the park."

Alya was enjoying every second of this. "All you have to do now is make it official, right? Get out there and do it!" She said, pushing Marinette out of the bathroom who was blushing horribly. "Come on, girl!" Alya looped her arm with Marinette's and drug her to class.

Adrien's eyes darted to the door when he saw Marinette walk in. "Are you feeling better?" He asked in his usual, soothing voice.

Marinette nodded quickly and moved towards her seat, stopping just beside him. "Y-yes, thanks." She bit the corner of her lip with her canine and looked slightly sideways. "C-can I… t…alk to you l-later…?"

Adrien blinked and slowly nodded. "Of course you can. During lunch good for you?"

Marinette nodded an okay and sat down behind him before she got any more unwanted stares from the class. Mainly speaking, Chloe. She kept a suspicious eye out on the two for the rest of the class period.

Adrien took note of this, it seemed, because he was the first to leave the room when the lunch bell sounded. He wasn't going to risk Chloe making Marinette wait on him if he could help it. On Marinette's part, Alya pulled Nino in front of the doorway right as Marinette exited and bombarded him with random questions so Chloe was blocked off from leaving the room to follow the two love birds.

Chloe clenched her fists in frustration and shoved past the two. "Ugh, move!" She spat. She got out into the hallway but couldn't see Adrien and Marinette go out to the court. She turned to her wannabe minion. "Go look for them, Sabrina!" She ordered then added, "I'm not going to let them think they can sneak off together without including me."

"Right away!" Sabrina saluted obediently before scampering off in search for the desired couple.

Adrien led Marinette to the side of the court where he was convinced that no one would see them. "So what did you want to talk about?" He asked, noticing how flustered Marinette seemed at this moment.

"A-ah… You know… I, uh, just had a question…" Her voice was fading away by the end of her statement. She looked at the ground and rubbed the back of her head in an uneasy way.

The blonde tilted his head slightly in confusion. He used a finger under her chin to lift it from the ground and have her look at him. "I think I know what it is," he said with a soft smile.

The world seemed to go by slowly as the two stared deeply into each other's eyes. They closed the distance between them enough for their noses to be a hair's width away from each other before a voice stopped them from going any further.

"I think I heard them over here!" A voice belonging to Sabrina called out suddenly.

Great minds think alike, though. The two heroes transformed and with the extension of Chat's pole, the two were swiftly removed from the scene before either Sabrina or Chloe could see them.

Chloe came busting out of the doors and looked around in a hasty matter. "There's no one out here! Keep on looking!" And with that, the two unwanted girls departed from sight.

Chat was standing off away from Ladybug, the back of his wrist on his mouth. He was blushing in an embarrassed manner from his previous move that nearly resulted in a kiss.

"Chat…?"

His back was turned to her. He tensed up at the sound of his name and laughed nervously. "My apawlogies, my lady. I didn't mean to be so furward."

What came next made him get even stiffer and glance back. She was laughing. And not in a way that was mocking or offended. Why those two puns made her laugh, she had no clue. Maybe it was just the context. Maybe it wasn't even that but the situation itself. At least her confidence was up and running.

"My lady?" He asked but she only kept laughing and shaking her head. Her next move was a killer. She stepped right in front of him and grabbed his face with her hands, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

He swore he saw stars, the Milky Way, Hailey's comet, everything in the universe. He felt like complete pudding. Unable to keep himself up on his own two feet, he requested assistance from the girl before him, wrapping his arms around her waist to help keep him from falling.

What felt like an eternity ended in a few seconds when they both needed air. Chat opened his mouth but nothing sounded. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing or not. His heart pounded in his ears from the rush he just witnessed first hand.

"Now I'm the one that has to apawlogize for being so furceful," Ladybug grinned up to him.

Chat's mouth curved up into an open smile. "…Heh," was the first sound that came out before it was his turn to laugh. He laid his forehead down on her shoulder and hugged her. "You're the absolute best."

A streak of blush painted Ladybug's now soft face as she looked down at the back of his head. "I guess it's easier for me to spit out now…"

"To make us official?" Chat finished her thought for her.

"That's-that's fine, right…?" She asked him.

Chat lifted his face from her shoulder so he could look. "It's purrfect," he responded, rolling his r's cooly.

"Both hero and civilian personas?"

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way."

And so the two stood there on that roof top for the remainder of the lunch break, forgetting all about their friends that they had left to protect this chance they got together. Of course though, they would have to spill every last detail to their friends. But, if that was the price to pay, they could definitely make something up to satisfy their game of 20 questions.

* * *

 **Let me try to explain myself... Yeah, I have no clue what I wrote. I just started writing and somehow I made poor Nathaniel get hit by a car and put into the hospital. But don't worry. He's fine... well, for now. Possibly. Anywho~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	13. Cat Catches Criticism

**Be prepared for a short chapter. My apologies for it not being as long as the others (^_^;)**

* * *

Apparently neither Marinette nor Adrien were good at hiding their new relationship status. Not only did Nino and Alya find out, but their entire class heard rumor. This was all courtesy of the over-excited dark-haired girl with glasses that shouted "I knew you two would get together sooner or later!"

Everyone in the lunch room froze and moved their gazes to the pair that Alya referenced.

"S-shhhh!" Marinette waved her hand in a flustered manner at her loud friend. Her face went scarlet red as she felt the weight of what seemed like a hundred stares on her. Not even the boy who was well accustomed to being observed could hold his own against the news outbreak.

"We told you not to overreact!" Adrien said, defeated with the outcome of this. He pressed his hands against his face with his elbows planted on the table top.

Alya looked around at the crowd she had gathered together and sweatdropped nervously. "Oh… Uh, sorry about that," she apologized to the couple and continued with "nothing to see here, everyone! Move along!"

Despite her arm movements to move everyone away, they all came closer in awe.

"Is that true?"

"Adrien Agreste is off the market?"

"How long has this been going on?"

A montage of questions and comments hurdled at the two but they silenced when one topped them off.

"How could you do this to me, Adrikins?! This has to be some sort of joke! There's no way that someone like _you_ could date someone like _her_!" Chloe shouted from across the room.

Adrien heaved out a long sigh. "Chloe, you are nothing more than my childhood friend. I'm sorry you're so upset about this, but I really care about Marinette."

"Just forget about her! I'm so much better! I-"

"Can't even compare to one of the good qualities that Marinette has," Adrien finished her sentence for her. "Don't downgrade her because of your own social standing. It's not even yours. You're just hiding behind your daddy. Marinette on the other hand does things for herself. Plus, she doesn't start shooting people down when she sees someone in the way of something she wants."

The atmosphere gradually got a heavy feeling to it as Adrien snapped. With the gentlemen that he is, even his snapping point has its boundaries. Chloe on the other hand didn't even think that he would go so far as to directly insult her, nonetheless in front of a large crowd. The model stood up and placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder.

Marinette flinched slightly on contact and moved her eyes up to see him. "Adrien…?" She asked quiet enough for only his ears. There was some worry in her voice, hoping that he wouldn't get so worked up over her that he would become akumatized.

"I have power too, you know. I'm just not as selfish as you to use it." With that, Adrien took Marinette by the hand and escorted her away from the now defeated queen B., ignoring the collage of murmurs between everyone.

"Hey… Adrien…" Marinette whispered in the boy's ear once they were finally out of ear and eye shot of the rest.

Adrien stopped walking and leaned his back against a column, letting out a long sigh. "I won't stand for it." His tone was much softer at this point. He didn't want to freak out. And definitely not in front of Marinette. He looked at his hand that was still wrapped around hers. He gave it a small squeeze and rubbed his thumb over the back.

"Don't worry… Really. I'm well used to Chloe's unnecessary commentary."

"You shouldn't be," Adrien stopped her. "That's not a good thing to be used to. You're my princess, my lady, and Paris' favorite hero. No one should talk so badly about you."

Marinette felt heat rise to her cheeks at the sound of that and looked into his eyes, speechless. Self-esteem wasn't quite in her vocabulary. She always saw herself as clumsy and quirky, though she didn't believe in what Chloe had to say about her. But hearing all of that praise from Adrien gave her a new perspective.

With a slow movement, Adrien brought one of her hands up with his and kissed the top of it. "I need to cool off some. I'll be back before the end of the day. I promise."

Marinette nodded slowly and looked down at the ground before finding herself embracing him with a hug. "Don't stay out too long, kitty," she whispered softly to him as he transformed himself into Chat Noir. She stood there for a few seconds after he extended himself out of sight with his staff.

Chat Noir propelled himself off of the school's premises and onto a lonely roof where he rested up against a chimney. He pushed a hand through his hair with a sigh, wanting to clear his mind. He looked down at the scarf around his neck that was made by his beloved. He gripped it with his hand tightly. "She can't keep acting like this. I won't let her say those things about Marinette. I won't."

" _You know what you have to do, don't you?"_

A grin spread across the white cat's face "Of course. And with your help, I'll accomplish it."

" _Go now and put the diva in her place, Chat Blanc."_

* * *

 **And here's another cliffhanger! What will happen next, no one knows! Not even me~ (seriously, that's the fun thing about writing. you start with one thing and find yourself going down an unexpected path)**


	14. Cat Catches Chloe

**The title is a lie...**

* * *

Class resumed its session quicker than all would have desired. Everyone was on the new hype about the new school couple. Nino and Alya's relationship status update was nothing of an effect as Adrien and Marinette's. The handsome, rich, and athletic model had fallen for someone. It's not that everyone—excluding Chloe— couldn't see how they match up. They actually thought that it would happen at some point in time, with Marinette being a hardcore fashion designer and Adrien a model; possibly even her model one day. They could have also seen how Marinette and Nathaniel could have been something with their common interest of art, but that idea was immediately thrown out the window at the mention of Adrienette being sailed. Well, maybe everyone did that except for Nathaniel, who at the point still is unaware of this.

The questioning of Marinette came to a yield after awhile. Alya was silenced by the teacher so that class could begin. Marinette stood up straight once she realized that two people were missing; Adrien and Chloe. Adrien had promised to be back before class begun, so where was he? _Chloe and Adrien both missing? This smells fishy…_ Marinette's mouth stretched into an unpleasant frown at the thought of Chloe doing one of her tricks to keep Adrien held hostage.

"Ms. Mandeleiev?" Marinette asked, with a hand raised in the air.

The woman turned around, pausing her lecture to look at her student. "Yes, Marinette?"

"May I be excused to the bathroom? I have a really bad feeling in my stomach," she said, not actually lying about her excuse.

She sighed and waved a hand of dismissal to her. "Make it quick."

Marinette nodded a thanks to her and slipped out of the room, avoiding taking up too much attention.

The girl walked quietly down the school hallway, listening out for any familiar voice. She stopped when she heard a cringing voice.

"Where are we going, Chat Noir? Am I in danger and you've come to rescue me? Is Ladybug coming too?" There was excitement growing in ditsy blonde's voice. "You look different," Chloe said, making Marinette tense up, "white is definitely not your color."

 _W-white?!_ Marinette started to panic and looked down at Tikki who was peeking it from her clutch. She already knew what she was going to say without further ado. "Spots on, Tikki."

Once she was clad in her super heroine uniform, she set off with stealth to find the location to which Char had taken Chloe. Once again, she had to get into action because of Chloe's self-centered and cruel ways. She found the open window and looked out of it, seeing a glimpse of a white belted tail before it slid out of her view and onto the roof. She grabbed her yoyo and sent herself out of the window and backwards towards the roof. She landed down on it and saw Chat with his white back turned towards her.

"Chat!" She called and watched him stop walking. He looked back at her with a smile.

"My lady~ I'm so glad that you've come! I was going to make this a surprise for you, but I guess it's okay if you see it first hand too."

Ladybug eyed Chloe in his arms for a moment before her eyes met his again. "What… What were you going to do?"

" _Were_?" Chat repeated with a tilt of his head. "My dear ladybug, I'm still going to! You see, the issue to all of our problems will be solved!"

"I'm not following…" Ladybug responded and took a few steps towards him. "What does she have to do with this?" She asked, gesturing to Chloe.

"I'm the life of the party! Isn't that what this is? A party?" Chloe asked hopefully to the akumatized Chat.

"Something like that…" Chat smirked and hopped towards the edge of the roof, holding Chloe above as if he were recreating The Lion King.

"C-chat! What are you doing?!" Ladybug explained as she started towards him.

"She's why so many akuma come. Without her, there'd be a lot more happiness. No one would have to feel so low because of her."

"Hey! People love me!" Chloe protested, squirming around as she did so. "Put me down! I don't think this is a party anymore!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Chat murmured and dropped her off the side of the roof.

"CHAT NO!" Ladybug yelled and lunged after her, but was stopped by Chat's arms around her waist and was brought down to the ground with him pinning her down. Despite him constricting her she shot her yoyo down and hoped to catch Chloe somehow.

She managed to sigh in relief when she heard Chloe's whining of her wanting to be place ld on the ground. She was currently dangling by her ankle just 20 feet from the ground.

"Come on, bugaboo. The girl wanted to be let go." Chat said and reached for Ladybug's hand, trying to get the yoyo to be released.

"Stop it, Chat Noir! We're supposed to help people! Not harm them! And she'd definitely get hurt if I let her go from the height that she is."

The yoyo was starting to slip from her hand as Chat tried to pry it from her. "Stop... it…" Ladybug pleaded to him. She started to slide out from under him, pulling herself over the edge of the roof. "I'm doing this with or without you." With that she freed herself the rest of the way and jumped off of the roof.

She caught herself on a high ledge, far enough for Chloe to barely reach the ground and unwind the yoyo from her ankle before it slipped out of Ladybug's hand.

She didn't look back before running off, away from the scene.

Ladybug was happy for the fact that she saved Chloe from a painful fall– somehow. But, now she herself was in danger. She was still too high for a safe landing on anything and she had no yoyo to swing herself to safety. "C-chat…?" Her voice was shaky as she looked up at the white cat.

" _Have her join you, Chat Blanche."_

Chat looked down from the roof to Ladybug. "Will you join me?"

"We're partners, Chat!"

"So you'll join me?" He asked once more.

Her fingers started to go numb from the cold surface she was hanging to, making her slide down.

His inner conscious was screaming to jump down there and grab her. He wanted to cease her panic and fear and hold her. He wanted to go against the akuma control so bad but his head only hurt when he attempted to do what he felt. The akuma was in full control when Ladybug slipped off the ledge and fell until she hit the ground below.

"Ch…at…" She barely breathed out before her conscious faded.

Deep inside, Chat felt dead and cold for allowing her to hit the ground at such a height. He couldn't move until the akuma pushed him to take a step. He used his baton to lower himself down to where Ladybug laid. He gently picked her up and held her close to him. "Come on, Ladybug. It's time for us to end our fighting against akuma."

He fixed her in one arm so he could use the other to lift them away with his baton.


End file.
